


Greyscale

by KyryeDuBarie



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: AU, Becoming The Mask, Dark Setting, Demon!Kuroo, Genderfluid Character, Hunter!Kei, Multi, Rating will probs go up later, more tags to be added later, there'll probs be angst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-28
Updated: 2016-05-23
Packaged: 2018-05-29 14:26:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 31,845
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6379816
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KyryeDuBarie/pseuds/KyryeDuBarie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The hunter walks through the door with light feet and a hand surreptitiously hidden in his pocket.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Dimension jumper

**Author's Note:**

> God, what am I doing? My Kurotsuki muse has gotten hyperactive again. This is a, well… strange idea of mine.

The mortal first catches his attention because of his name.

The black demon has become a shadow, hiding in the darker places of the bar, swirling within the quiet confines of booths and tables.

He mentions it to the bartender, his name, Tetsuro Kuroo, and the demon thinks _‘That’s the same color as me in this language, isn’t it?’_

But right now, the demon has other things to worry about, he notices that the mortal, slumped over the bar, staring at his half empty glass of liquor is giving off a grey aura.

Nothing seems wrong, physically speaking, so it must be that this one has given up on life, and he hasn’t got much of a will left.

Just as the demon realizes this, the hunter walks through the door with light feet and a hand surreptitiously hidden in his pocket.

And still, the hunter hesitates, his pretty golden eyes shift over the few people left at the bar, and the demon takes a leap of faith.

The lamp two meters away falls, the resulting crash startling everyone for a moment; the demon takes the chance to slip into the mortal’s prone body.

As is the norm with those humans who have lost all will, the slightly inebriated man barely puts up a fight.

This is what he has always been known for, subtlety, swiftness, slyness, if he had a mouth, he would grin.

Instantly, he suppresses even the barest hint of his presence inside the man, with how weak the demon currently is; doing so isn’t hard.

He doesn’t expect, however, for the human to unflinchingly give up _all_ control over his body, the demon expected to be allowed enough room to remain a dark thought on the back of his subconscious, not become the god forsaken main personality.

Distantly, he hears a vague whisper, the shadow of an afterthought.

 _You can stay for as long as you like,_ the voice says _, right now I’m glad someone else wants to live my life._

This Kuroo Tetsuro knows _what_ he is.

And apparently, his life is so shitty that he doesn’t care that he’s being possessed by a demon –weakened as he might be-, he’d take this with a grain of salt if he didn’t _desperately_ need somewhere to hide for the moment.

So the demon spreads his presence through the man’s limbs, slowly because the hunter would probably be able to pick up on his presence if he were faster, and also because, now he can tell, this man has at least some psychic capabilities, and he has trained them, the demon now knows that the man’s surrender is completely voluntary, he could have held him off decently, had he wanted to.

The hunter –he’s tall and wiry, but well defined muscles peek out from beneath his wide necked shirt, his eyes and hair are the color of gold and he’s frowning at the bar like it has done him a personal wrong- sweeps over the few drunks in the dingy bar with a look, and his eyes land on Kuroo Tetsuro –or his body, whatever- and he starts walking over.

The demon wills the body to straighten up.

Thankfully the back is already under his control completely, though the limbs do still feel sluggish.

“Hello” The hunter says formally, the demon smirks –just a little more now, the backs of the calves and the tips of the feet-. “My name is Tsukishima Kei”

“G’night” he says, hoping not to sound too out of place. “Kuroo Tetsuro” he says, and reaches out to shake the other’s stretched hand.

“Have you noticed anything out of place here?” the blonde leans in and says to him in a conspicuous tone, it’s not quite a surprise because however infrequent his forages into this world, the demon has learned enough about hunters and physics to be aware of the fact that most of them can tell their kind apart from your garden-variety human.

A hurried glance over the other’s body reveals easily that the blond is oddly stiff, clearly not very comfortable with his surroundings.

The demon decides to toy with this Tsukishima Kei a bit, after all, he wasn’t born to a succubus for nothing, and for a human, this one has a riveting quality –also, getting him flustered might make him less aware of any speck of demonic presence that might slip past the demon’s guard-. Quietly, the demon slips his hand into the black pants that he’s wearing and pulls out his wallet just a smidge.

A wad of bills greets him.

Nice.

“Only that _you_ are here” he says, smirking.

“Please be serious” Tsukishima Kei pushes his glasses further up the bridge of his nose and when the demon smirks, he sighs seemingly deciding to play along, at least for the time being “What do you mean?”

“You’re too pretty to be in a place like this” the demon says, noting also, the dark bags under the hunter’s eyes, good, exhaustion will make it marginally easier to derail the other “But since you are… let me buy you a drink?”

A small flush appears on the blonde’s cheeks “I’m sorry” he says dryly, pulling out a bounty hunter ID “I’m working. I meant if you had seen any signs of a demon, or other supernatural creatures here”

“One won’t hurt, Mr. bounty Hun- “

“It’s Tsukishima” the other says, irritated, glancing to their sides to make sure there’s no one watching.

There isn’t, though, because it’s early and this is not the place where one would usually start the night.

“Tsukki then” the demon continues, amusement taking over him as a slightly irritated flush takes over the other’s cheeks “Well, it’d help if you told me what kind of demon you’re chasing, and while you do it, you could take a seat.”

The blonde gapes at him, the demon is glad that despite being slightly out of shape for his tastes, this human happens to be quite attractive as well –or so the memories filling the man’s head tell him, they are memories of a tall, dark haired man with strong factions and a charming mouth, leaning into the mirror to try and fix an oddly attractive mess of tangled locks that rests over his eye- because he can tell that the blonde has noticed as well –he’s only part succubus, but it’s a trait that they all have-.

Tsukishima lowers his eyes and sighs, pulling the closest bar stool over to them and propping his elbow on the bar. “I’m not very sure, I’d say it was a primal, but it might well have been a succubus or incubus”

The demon raised an eyebrow at him, the boy had good sensing skills “Oh ho, isn’t that a rare couple of beings to be confused about?”

“Yes” The other said, frowning “Which is why I asked when I sensed you”

“Hmm” he says while motioning at the bartender “I’m afraid I can’t be of much help then. It’s been a… _dreadfully quiet_ night” he purrs and the bartender finally shows up “Bring my friend a…”

The other scoffs, looking resigned both in letting the complete stranger buy him a drink and catching the demon that he doesn’t know, is right in front of him. The demon almost wants to laugh “Gin and tonic”

The bartender looks surprised at Kuroo Tetsuro’s complete one eighty in demeanor, but only asks the dark haired man if _he_ wants anything else “Another scotch please” he says and smiles wide and devilish.

“So, Tsukki, are you from Tokyo?”

“No” the man sulks and his shoulders drop, exhaustion is even clearer in his slouching frame.

“Well, where are you from?”

“The Sendai region”

“Ohh, I’ve heard that’s infested” He knows that the smile he puts in Kuroo Tetsuro’s face is charming “You must be a pretty good hunter”

The other blushes slightly and looks away, he answers, ignoring the compliment “Not more so than Tokyo, not really”

This kid is cute, he decides, too bad he’s a hunter who somehow managed to discern his parentage, and the demon really doesn’t have the strength to kill him right now.

Their drinks arrive shortly, the demon drains his glass, thankful that this Kuroo Tetsuro seems to have decent tolerance to alcohol.

Tsukishima however, is watching him out of the corner of his eye and holding the drink like it might hurt him, surely he must be familiar enough with alcohol, he doesn’t look too young for a human, and he’s hunting in an area known for its overabundance of bars and the like.

“How old are you, Tsukki?” He says, curious.

The other takes a tentative sip at his drink “23”

“Oh so you are younger than me, I’m twenty…” The information is just out of his reach, just a little bit beneath the superficial layer of Kuroo Tetsuo’s memories. Aware of the potential danger, he reaches in, it’s not like the demon is going to stay in the body past this night “Twenty-eight”

Tsukishima’s eyebrow arches elegantly and the demon is shot a distrustful look, for a moment, he’s almost sure that he has slipped in his control and the hunter has seen through this body’s psychic aura and figured out his nature “If you’re trying to pretend you’re younger, you’re a bad liar”

He’s older actually, about two centuries and a half older than this human in front of him, who is so sharp and so obtuse at the same time, but it’s not like he can tell the man that, “No, no, no, see here Tsukki?”, he pulls out Kuroo Tetsuro’s wallet and hands the man’s driver’s license to Tsukishima.

The blonde huffs and looks away “Well, who forgets their own age?”

The demon laughs, “Me, apparently”

He shoots a look at the clock that hangs above the bottles of the bar, it’s late enough that it makes sense to excuse himself, he does quite have to regain his strength somehow, maybe find some psychic to feed off of, he doesn’t want to feed off of one that’s been so pliant, and finding someone to satisfy his incubus side might be too much work right now, the body’s getting sleepy-.

The demon pulls out a couple of bills from his wallet and shoves them over the counter “Well, Tsukki, it was nice to meet you, but I’m heading home”

Annoyance feels the blonde’s eyes, he sort of wants to tease him some more, he _is_ fun to rile up, but this is going to be their last meeting anyway, and so, the demon just awkwardly waves and as he turns, he can hear a mumbled ‘Thanks for the drink’ from Tsukishima.

“You’re welcome, Tsukki”

He walks out of the bar and into the amber light of the streetlamps, the hands of Tetsuro Kuroo’s body quickly seek out his jacket pocket, where in lie a pack of cigarettes and a lighter.

The demon pulls out a cigarette and lights it with a flick of the wrist, he walks down the slope of the street, marveled at how the humans move around him as a solid entity and not a cold gust of wind to some and a mass of black smoke to others, it’s a shame that he can’t take on his original form in this dimension, what a panic he would cause, if doing so didn’t require him to be at full strength –and he wonders too if the hunter, if Tsukishima kei, would fight him in that form, he thinks of how the man might move-.

Kuroo Tetsuro’s body has been good he muses, as his feet take him down vaguely familiar streets, and its owner seems blissfully asleep within the recesses of his own mind, so he might as well take the thing home, he never knows when it might be more useful.

After all, from the glimpses of memories that he has caught –because why dwell very deep into some passing human’s life-, what the man said once he possessed his body is very much right, very few beings would ever want to live his life, and the demon doesn’t count himself as one.

Like a firefly, the cigarette butt soars through the polluted air of Tokyo and lands in the gutter outside of Kuroo Tetsuro’s house.

The demon leaves the man’s body in his bed, and then he thinks that doing so is quite nice of himself.

.

.

The nebulous recesses of the netherworld greet him with hail and wind, as the demon approaches his home, he finds himself less than pleased at whoever is causing this climate.

Most of the demon world is made out of tiny compounds located somewhere in the middle of near-deserted dimensions, that can almost only be accessed by portal –mostly because no one has ever bothered to properly chart where they are geographically, or at least no one that the demon knows of-. Of course, there are several places where demons from everywhere mix, trade and interact, but he’s visited none of those as of late.

When he reaches the last portal, -the one that leads directly inside of his cave- the demon allows himself to slip into his original form for the first time in some time.

Black smoke curls and solidifies, as if shaped by a master artisan, his hind legs take shape and beneath the short layer of fur like hide, the taut muscles all over his body can be seen.

Conjuring such a form in the realm of humans would’ve been terribly difficult, a waste of energy and a bad decision, here however, it allows him to replenish himself, to rest and gather up strength, and by the time that his snout has formed –elongated, adorned with long, wire thin whiskers- he’s collapsing in the soft nest that he has for a resting place.

Altogether, from what he has seen in the realm of humans, he looks very much like the animal they call a panther –only twice as large, with longer claws and ears, and maybe, slightly less furry-.

His hideout is tucked away in a nigh deserted dimension, the only demons he occasionally runs into here are the Ice types, and the hulking, silent one, the biggest of them all, is enough to keep them in check just by exercising the right that his imposing presence allows him.

It’s his peaceful place, those who’ve hunted him as of recently seem to not have found it.

Or so he thought.

His nose catches it first, the rot, the stench of decomposing corpses.

And he has yet to eat to truly replenish himself.

They slither in, sluggishly moving, knowing well enough that he has no escape with them blocking the portal.

He cannot see them, not completely –it is one of their abilities- but the black sludge that appears after them is unmistakable.

The demon cannot create a portal, weakened as he is, from the jumping dimensions, hiding from hunters and the fights just before that.

_Brute force will have to do huh?  Fat chance of killing them as I am though._

And so, he leaps forward, slashing, biting, they seem to be in a more solid form so it plays to his advantage, although where their hands grab at his fur and paws, unbearable heat blooms, leaving him limping when he finally manages to hurl himself out of the portal.

Without the means to create portals, he has to use the ones created by others for general use.

And that is a mess, at first, he hurls himself into every portal that he sees, until he’s dizzy from the constant shifting and has passed the Grand Square at least four times, then, when he’s sure that he’s lost them, he becomes more strategic taking a rather roundabout way towards an old friend’s place.

Perhaps the Red Mist will be able to keep him hidden for long enough to recover.

When he reaches the portal, he’s almost immediately granted access to the land of sand and eternal sunset that his old friend inhabits.

If he were still in a human body, he would grin.

.

.

The demon of the Red Mist is an old acquaintance of his, from why back when he’d consume both humans and demons alike, aiming for power like he’d never had.

The Red Mist easily stops him in his tracks though.

Almost a millennia older and ever so patient, ever so tranquil, that is his old friend.

His friend is truly, not the only demon of the Red Mist, like he himself isn’t the only black or panther-like demon, but he is one of the most powerful and one he knows well.

Both their species are reclusive and evasive by nature, and there’s also the little detail about him being a hybrid, which makes him an outcast out of either fear or mere bigotry more often than not.

There’s a cave of reddish sand to his right, he slithers inside, all the way to its end, where he finds his friend in their preferred form; a red birdlike creature of rather dignified posture.

“I see they have gotten to you” the voice doesn’t quite come from the bird’s beak, but it is protected out of it, like the creature was just a transmitter.

The black demon’s voice possesses the same quality “Like you didn’t know they would eventually.”

“It was a question of time” the other concedes. “Are you planning to stay here until they give up?”

“You know that they won’t” he responds, annoyed “But I need somewhere to recharge”

“You have changed” the voice behind the bird remarks. “Matured, I would even say”

The black demon lays down on the sandy floor “On the other hand, you remain the same”

“All of us stabilize at some point”

Exhaustion is catching up with him quickly, his very being feels heavy, and he shifts back to his more solid form, although it is perhaps, more trouble than its worth, it’s how he feels the most comfortable “At this pace I won’t get to”

“Well, you have gotten yourself into quite a difficult situation” the other says “Have you thought of consuming a human to replenish yourself quickly? Maybe even a demon would do”

Darkness creeps up on him, and he can barely utter a sentence before it takes over completely “I would need far more than that, and isn’t that what got me into this mess in the first place?”

And then, in the slightly too warm cave, he drifts into darkness.

.

.

He has slept once and been fed some sort of lesser demons from the prairie by the Red Mist when it happens.

A nudge from his friend’s quasi-incorporeal form wakes him.

“They will be here soon”

Their voice is stern, sluggishly, the black demon lifts himself from the floor.

“Don’t die while I’m away”

“They are not seeking _me_ out” they say, clearly alert to the shift in energy that happens before the creatures appear.

“Good point”

Over the time that he has spent at the Red Mist’s, the black demon has managed to replenish a somewhat decent level of energy though he’s not even halfway to half of his potential strength.

But it is enough to open a portal, and he chooses the one place where he knows he’ll be able to blend in, and he has a perfect hiding spot awaiting.

The demon makes the leap.

.

.

He finds himself a cloud of dark smoke again, sliding between the millions of legs that move in Tokyo’s afternoon crowd, wracking his brain for the address.

Fortunately, in a little less than three centuries, he has gained a pretty decent memory.

Kuroo Tetsuro’s apartment building stands in front of him.

.

.

The image is probably brutal to a human, the dark smoke swirls around it quietly.

The body hanging from a rope hooked to one of the ceiling’s beams is not even cold yet.

He does remember the man being in a shitty situation.

Maybe the unfortunate human’s life would have taken a bit of a twist if the demon had been sent through the portal a couple of hours earlier.

In the human world, his presence is bound to be noticed far more easily, not only by his pursuers, but by the hunters, and while those wouldn’t be much of an issue if he were at full strength, the demon isn’t very fond of consuming humans to get himself back up into top shape.

He takes in the human’s lifeless body.

It hasn’t been that long, and he figures, the man had no qualms letting him use that body before, what are a couple more days? it isn’t like Kuroo Tetsuro is around to witness it anymore.

Fixing whatever’s broken and getting the body’s heart thumping and its lungs working should take most of whatever power he managed to acquire with the Red Mist, - mostly, because neither side of his nature has much proficiency with healing at all, and a broken neck is nothing to scoff at, in a human at least- but perhaps, that is for the best, he’ll be all but trapped in that body for a while, but that will make him mostly undetectable to anyone hunting him.

And so, after the rope is cut and the body lands on the ground with a dull ‘thump’ the demon gets to work.

He slips inside through the open mouth and spreads himself into every single cell, pushing against the natural and preternatural barriers –thankfully, the latter have grown weaker due to the human’s passing, or his decreased power would not suffice- with stubbornness.

Taking over a body is different from feeding on one or possessing it, he has never done it before, and it’s surprisingly hard. He has set out to fix the whole body, but finds that there’s far more to fix than the snapped neck.

The lungs are charred black and there are not-so-recent wounds littering the torso –he can do nothing for the ones that have already scarred over, but he still heals what he can- Kuroo Tetsuro had an awkwardly healed right ankle and apparently dislocated his wrist a couple of weeks ago.

His liver is in no better shape than his lungs, the demon fixes that too, just in case.

There’s of course, great damage to the brain, from being without breathing for so long, fixing it is a grudging task, perhaps the worst, and he leaves it for last, just before he restarts the heart and the lungs.

-being part incubus thankfully means he’s got _some_ idea how a human body works, though he’ll be less than surprised if his hasty and inexperienced healing has fucked something up-

The first pump of the heart, the first expansion of the lungs and then the second, the third and the fourth, everything seems to be going well, too well, until it hits him, like a freight train, like lightning, like energy shot straight out of the mouth of a storm demon.

From the recently repaired brain of Kuroo Tetsuro, it floods the demon’s mind, and it is not a t all like the first time, when he was able to ignore the memories in the back of the man’s mind, because now and for the it me being it is _his_ mind.

_An apartment that isn’t the one he’s lying in, high up in a shiny building of even shinier glass. Plants everywhere and a hand on his head._

_Jumping, running, moving. Powers awakening. Satisfied smiles._

_He’s dancing, and then he’s playing, some sort of sport. Volleyball. Blonde hair dye. Kenma Kozume._

_Three women in succession. Shattering glass and old books and the smell of fire fed by blood and ages old wood._

_Metal in his hands, all kinds. And then the tangy smell of iron in blood and the steps of an army behind him._

_Screaming and the wind in a graveyard and the smile of someone absent._

_Bokuto Koutarou. Grey hair, loudness.  More steps of the army behind him._

_Running, again, running and more running. Official papers and his current apartment._

_Grey. Grey. Grey. Red. Grey. Bleak Grey. Danger. Grey. Grey._

_The city lights, cigarette smoke and alcohol._

_Black._

The fever dream, the rushing of memories lasts until the rays of the sun traverse through Tokyo’s polluted, overcast sky and the room lights up slightly, and the demon is left staring at the ceiling with wide eyes and trembling fingers, forehead clammy and cold limbs.

Kuroo Tetsuro was _definitely_ not lying that first night.

He tests his control, lifting a finger and then another, pushing back with the muscles that he can feel as _his_ to place his torso upright.

Shaky legs move, straighten and he’s standing in the nigh-bare room, staring at himself in a mirror conveniently placed behind the door.

He’s observing the face and the body no longer from a detached perspective but as he has stared at his panther-like form in reflective surfaces before.

And for some reason, when he takes in the whole image of himself –bedhead that he now knows is eternal, plain red boxers and worn black shirt, lanky limbs and downward turned mouth- the chill of the room takes him by surprise in its unfamiliarity and the rawness of the memories makes his eyes itch strangely.

He has been warned, many times about how this is the main, the most dangerous difference between taking over and possessing a body, he always disregarded those as tall tales.

Turns out they’re not.

He doesn’t share Kuroo Tetsuro’s opinions, he doesn’t thing the way the man did or pretends to act in such a way.

Yet he shares the memories, and the bodies capabilities, and he can _feel_ in the strange ways that human’s do.

It’s terrifying.

It’s confusing.

And he’s stuck with it for a while.

.

.

Four days later, he’s ready to throw in the towel and go back weaker than the lowest of vermin.

It’s too much, the way he can’t get used to _being_ a human by all accounts, to not being able to detach himself from the body, almost being at its mercy.

There’s no way of letting go of his nature, there’s no way of working within this alien organism while it feels like a part of him. He can’t adjust and is confused and oversensitive all of the time –the memories don’t help, they still instill responses in him, even if they are not, perhaps, the worst he has seen in his long life-.

He’ll believe the tall tales next time.

Coincidentally, that’s when the Psychic capabilities of his body reawaken, amped up by the surplus of energy from his nature.

Coupled with the senses that his demonic nature implies, he gains awareness almost better than he ever has previously had.

And realizes that not only are _they_ here –and this is something he’ll have to look into if he doesn’t want all of this trouble to be for nothing-, but also, there are enough hunters in Tokyo that the slightest slip-up –like trying to open a portal- might be a quick demise for him.

 _They_ are the bigger threat.

He tucks his nature away in the deepest little well of his body and walks right up to one of the hunter’s lairs.

The lesser of two evils, one could say.


	2. City Wanderer

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, here’s the next one, Tsukki’s POV y’all. This is out slower than I thought it would be, huh, my real life attacked, sowwy (theory frames suck godammit)

He loses one of his more expensive knives while fighting the feral.

It’s kind of a shame, the set was complete and almost unscathed before, even though he bought them a while ago.

-well, four years ago, he supposes that whether it’s been a while or not is sort of relative-

The other blessed knife, twin to the one that the thing just threw through a portal to who-knows-where, goes right through the place where the serpent demon's brain would’ve been had it been an actual animal and not just a sort of energy morphed in a similar shape.

Well, so Kei thinks, at least, he’s not very certain of whether most demons have organs per se, especially the shape-shifting ones, for all he knows he might’ve actually just driven a knife through the thing’s brain, although he’s more inclined to believing that he hasn’t, since most of them can dissolve into mist so easily.

He sighs, it’s not the moment to be thinking of things so inconsequential.

The remains that the demon leaves behind are a patch of gleaming gray scales.

At least, it’s not goo this time.

He carefully stores the scales in a jar and dumps it in his backpack, then he picks up his fallen daggers, turns around and faces the midday sun that peeks at him from the alley’s entrance.

.

.

His feet take him to his house first, he collects the three jars that he’s been too lazy to exchange up until now and looks around the room.

-slightly messy, not as much as people seem to expect from a man in his early twenties, though, judging by the reactions he’s gotten from the few people that he’s brought around-

Just another day of work.

Tsukishima Kei slides his earbuds out of his ears as he walks out of the bathroom and muses on how utterly _strange_ his life must look to an outsider.

He can only wonder, though, because his psychic powers are strong from birth, he has not a time that he remembers where he couldn’t sense demons and portals –and even his mother tells him that as a baby, he’d cry until they left certain places-

-She too, has powers but for all that she’s let them atrophy, she might as well not-

When he’s about to brush his teeth, he realizes the small sting of a cut on the back of his hand.

It’s shallow and thin, he isn’t sure what it was that caused it, in which moment of the battle with the feral he managed to make it –and he’s pretty sure that it came from one of his own knives, the thing’s attacks would not have left such a precise gash- Kei sighs and leaves it be.

There’s no need to bandage it, even if it stings a little bit.

He barely notices these kinds of things anymore, his threshold for pain has also always been on the higher side.

He has loaded the jars in his small backpack and put on his earbuds again, the music is blaring loud enough that it manages to shut out even the noise from the busy street outside –rush hour and a very busy street, no wonder the rent is cheap, the noise is infernal- when the music is interrupted by the familiar call tone.

He lifts the phone to stare at the screen, even though he’s already almost sure of who it is that is calling him.

When his brother calls, he always does so during his lunch break.

“Hello” he says, resigned.

“Kei!” Akiteru always acts cheerful when he calls, though most of the times, Kei can tell that it’s partly an act. This time around for example. “How have you been?”

“Well”

“That’s not much of a description.”

“It’s what I always tell you” he says dryly.

Akiteru sighs, on the other end of the line “You used to tell me everything, you know?”

“When I was ten, maybe”

Another sigh “Killed any demons lately?”

“I was just heading out to get the bounties”

“I see” Akiteru’s voice turns serious “I wanted to warn you, mom might call today”

“You talk like I would answer a call of hers”

“I just thought you might want to know”

 _I just thought you might try to patch things up_. Is what his brother actually wants to say, but, it’s not like that’s a possibility for Kei at all.

After all, there’s only really one or two reasons for his mom to call, and, well…

Yeah, no.

“I guess” he says “How’s nee-san?” He says, if only to steer the conversation towards a topic that will end quickly.

“Saeko is fine” and finally, there’s actual mirth in his brother’s voice “She complains that she can’t see her feet, but she’s fine.”

“She still has two months to go, right”

“Give or take, the doctor says the baby might come a bit earlier”

“I see” Tsukishima says “I’m going to head out, I’ll call you later” He won’t, they both know it.

“Take care little brother”

Kei hums and hangs up, Akiteru is the only member of his family with whom he keeps some regular contact, and even that is strained, partly because it has been some time and it’s odd for them to adjust to a new dynamic, partly because technically Akiteru is not supposed to so much as think of Kei, technically, the only ones allowed to contact him are his parents, and that only to try and make him _straighten his path_ with the many things about his life that they disapprove.

-it’s kind of ironic, most people train for years for the power that runs in their blood, and yet they despise it so-

Heeding his brother’s warning, however, he switches his phone to flight mode.

There was a time when Akiteru almost left the family along with Kei, only to protect his little brother who had no idea how to live outside their household.

In the end, only his pending marriage to a girl that he loved stopped him, and Kei learned to manage.

-once he was able to hunt demons and rid himself of part time jobs working the graveyard shift, everything settled nicely-.

Not quite allowing himself to wallow anymore, he switches the music back on and walks out of his small apartment, headed towards Shibuya’s trading center.

.

.

The cheerful redhead frowns down at his jars, Kei’s eyebrow twitches.

“So, this is three ferals and an elemental, right?”

Kei nods.

“So, fire?”

“Air”

From behind the short boy, a taller man appears, he’s still not as tall as Kei though, his black hair covers his forehead and he’s scowling. “Sorry, he’s new”

“I can tell” Kei says “You really should train them better, Kageyama”

The other scoffs, “I don’t handle the training” he says “This shrimp’s Noya’s though god knows what he’s been teaching him”

To this, the shorter man turns to look at Kageyama and frowns “Noya-san has been a very good instructor”

Kageyama sighs and motions towards Tsukishima’s jars “Then gauge the levels quickly, a line’s forming” he says “And come after hours, I’ll teach you how to identify elementals”

For some reason, despite the crassness of the statement and the tone of Kageyama’s voice, this makes the redhead’s face light up, and he even seems to calculate the whole thing quickly enough.

Tsukishima requests for them to transfer the money directly to his account and heads for the stairs, climbing slowly towards the bar on the second floor.

The news board is also there, and he’s hoping to find some sponsored bounty that won’t be all that hard and still grant him a good chunk of money.

-it’s usually rich idiots with problems simpler than they think, that offer quantities of money far superior to those that the state office would ever offer, but they are impatient and don’t know what they are dealing with, such jobs can be more of a pain due to the contractors than due to the demons themselves, but that suits him just fine if they pay well-

He walks towards the bar and grabs a drink first, though –it’s a Wednesday, whatever, he’s an adult- just thinking of the voicemails that he’s sure to find as soon as he turns his phone on to full functionality.

When he has his vodka and has turned his music up even louder, he walks towards the board with the sponsored bounties.

It’s a busy week it seems, because there are many new ones, and all of the rich simpletons seem a bit too frightened, since the quantities have gone up quite a lot as well.

That’s suspicious.

Especially because they all seem to be some kind of unidentifiable demon, all everyone has to say about it is that it corrodes everything it touches and causes abrasions of the skin.

It’s formless more than anything though most of them can take the form of mist, this seems to be slightly more solid, and still, shapeless as far as most people can see.

Strange.

The board stretches from side to side of the wide room, stacked with notes, he’s looking for something that’s not the weird, abrasive demon when he bumps into someone.

It’s not a rare occurrence, Kei is almost always listening to music or thinking of one thing or other unless there’s someone he knows –and actually gets along with, so most of the time Kageyama doesn’t count- around.

He usually, however, doesn’t run into people who are just about his height, nor do these people seem suspiciously familiar, until he places their smirk and impossibly messy hair and almost wants to facepalm because. _Who forgets where they’ve seen this guy?_

The stranger from the bar a couple of weeks ago stands in front of him, his attractive smirk just as wide and his hair just as impossibly messy, he wears a leather jacket that emphasizes his broad shoulders and well-sculpted arms.

Maybe Kei should’ve stayed a while longer that night, he muses, especially because he never caught the feral that he glimpsed outside of the bar where he met this man.

-he does seem to have forgotten the name, though-

He sees the man’s thin lips move and stretch again into the smirk, and he reaches up to tug at the cord and remove the earbuds.

The noise and bustle of the bar hit him full force.

“Uh, I’m sorry?”

“I said Tsukki” the man says.

“Oh, yeah, you’re from the bar…”

The man’s mouth twists into a small frown “Kuroo Tetsuro”

“Oh, yeah, sorry” he sighs “Please call me Tsukishima”

The other snickers “A lot of cases with that incorporeal huh?”

“I was under the impression that you weren’t a hunter” Kei says dryly.

“Oh? No I’m not” the wide mouth curls into a sly smile “Actually, I’m here because I want some lessons”

Kei blinks, amused “It’s odd, for someone your age to be aspiring”

“Well, I’ve never gotten around to it normally, but I do know some things” he says “I don’t have the slightest idea of who to ask though”

“So you’re standing by the board staring at cases?”

The other shrugs, and behind the slyness and the slightly flirty façade, Kei can detect a sort of strange helplessness, as though the man feels out of pace, despite having a pretty decent psychic aura –though if he’s really never been formally trained, Kei is amazed-.

A sigh slips past his lips and he points towards the stairs “You have to talk to Kageyama on the first floor, it’s the one with black hair that always looks mad” he takes a sip of his now almost empty drink “But they don’t test people until after hours, so you might as well stay here until after five”

The other arches a dark eyebrow up at him “This place closes at five?”

Kei snorts “The bar doesn’t, in all else, it may as well be a bank”

It’s strange, suspicious even that the man doesn’t even know these things “I see, thanks”

Leaving the conversation as finished, as the other man disappears from his side, Tsukishima looks back at the board, scanning for something more normal.

Finally, he settles on some guy with a large state having a problem with an incubus that has been following his daughter around.

-it’ll entail a purification ritual, which is not one of Kei’s favorites, but oh well-.

The pay is good, and he’d rather someone bring around some more information about the incorporeal before he gets involved in that mess, after all, as far as they know, it could be the very ruler of the underworld, and Kei’s not in the mood for running into one of those rare but very powerful demons that can destroy you without leaving so much as your pinky behind.

He grabs the paper and turns around, he’ll get started on it tomorrow, after all, getting to the estate requires him to take the train and then a bus.

After leaving his glass on the counter –Asahi shot him a grateful look over the Action-Tsukishima is crossing the room towards the stairs, readjusting the backpack where the glass jars clink, empty, and trying to disentangle his earbuds from the seemingly impossible knot in which they seem to have wound around each other in his short conversation with Kuroo Tetsuro, when a hand reaches out from one of the tables and pulls him to the side.

He finds himself looking down at golden colored eyes and the face that he probably wouldn’t have forgotten this time around.

“I thought I could treat you to a drink, since you helped me and all” The man says, again with a smile perhaps a bit too wide, and Kei starts considering his options.

The way this man is looking at him is familiar to Kei, the man himself, not only today but the last time they met, radiates confidence and a sort of energy that Kei wouldn’t quite call sexual, but that comes close to it. It reminds him of his sporadic trip to some of the gay bars around town, and how the beginnings of every night before he gets a bit tipsy makes him feel slightly like prey.

Of course, here, at a trading center, no one would look at him like this, Kei is known for liking to keep one night stands and work separated, and anyone who’s dared to bother him past a certain point, has received a couple intimidating looks from the center’s director and Kei’s teacher for most of his training, Sawamura Daichi, and so, he isn’t sure that he’s reading the other’s cues very well, after all, the man is being almost overly friendly, especially with someone like Tsukishima,  who isn’t exactly a people person and doesn’t appear like he is either.

Still, it’s not like he has much of anything to do at his apartment, and if he hangs around he’ll be able to greet Yamaguchi.

Finally –although it’s barely been a couple of seconds- he decides that, well, if anything comes out of it, he won’t mind, and if the stranger happens to be just an overly friendly and strangely uninformed man, well, it’s no sweat off his back.

He sits down gingerly in the soft cushioned chair, and when the drinks –that this Kuroo Tetsuro has apparently already ordered- arrive, he notes that the man either got the drink Kei asked for when they met right out of pure luck, or he remembered that Kei likes gin and tonics.

He lifts the drink to his mouth and takes a sip, when his eyes come back up, he finds that the man is scrutinizing his face, almost as if he’s trying to read Kei by his facial expressions.

-Tough luck with that, few people can, and most of those, he has known half of his life at least-

It’s still unsettling, the intense look in the other’s eyes, and while Kei was already acutely aware of the man’s attractiveness, he finds himself growing more interested.

Still, he finds awkwardness seeping into the atmosphere as soon as he remembers where they are and what he’s thinking in such a place.

-it’s a habit, although he does know that there’s nothing really wrong with being physically attracted to the other-.

“So, Kuroo-san, where are you from?”

This seems to surprise the man, and just like he did the night they met, he seems to be contemplating the answer deeply, almost as if he’s searching for it inside his head, even if Kei should’ve asked the same question at least out of politeness that night “Uh, I was born in Hokkaido, my parents were on a trip, but I’ve always lived in Tokyo” and again, a flash of something that suggests the other man being uncomfortable flashes behind his eyes, although he smirks right after “You said you were from Sendai, right?”

“Yes, Miyagi, to be exact” this time it’s Tsukishima’s turn to grimace.

“Ohh what brought you to Tokyo then? it can’t have been the number of demons”

He _could_ tell the truth, but it’s long and melodramatic and emotionally exhausting, so he settles for something more generic, yet technically veracious enough.

“I wasn’t interested in the family business, Tokyo seemed like a good alternative”

“Hmm, you do look like you wouldn’t like to be tied down, and you’re pretty gifted for your age too”

Again, those eyes. Kei adjusts his glasses and avoids choking on his drink “You could say that” he takes another, thoughtful sip of the drink “What _do_ you do, Kuroo-san?”

The other laughs, relaxed “I stayed with the family business, I guess it’s alright, we… we…” it’s almost as if, again, he has lost basic information about himself in some recess of his mind, there’s vulnerability written over his eyes.

“Kuroo san are- “

The other coughs, it’s almost obvious that it’s fake and he smiles shakily “No, no it’s fine, I just choked a bit, we run a business, it’s nothing that’s in the limelight too much, but I’m an only son and m-my dad raised me for it.”

“Really?” Kei looks away “I guess I’m glad I have an older brother, in these circumstances”

He throws the bait, it's easy to catch, clearly, this man is getting way too uncomfortable when talking about his own past, and the conversation continues with him barraging Kei with questions about his life, which he answers vaguely for the most –the man is a stranger after all- and predictably leaving Kei little to no time to ask anything himself.

They order another round and Kei feels himself relaxing perhaps a bit more than he should, their conversation has deviated to demons, a topic which Kuroo seems to be quite knowledgeable in despite being woefully uninformed when it comes to the bounty hunter system.

It is then, when Kei stretches back, hearing the popping of a couple of his vertebrae and feeling his shirt ride up slightly, that he feels the eyes on him again, it's strange, mostly because people usually don’t have this kind of an effect on him, and that’s unsettling, he refuses to open his eyes and meet the other’s and it’s not until his head is safely turned in another direction that he opens his own.

The silence stretches between them, and then the man speaks.

“You’re pretty, Tsukishima” it’s entirely out of place in the conversation, and Kei is gaping as much as the man seems to be blushing, holding his hands up to his mouth like he can’t believe he spoke the words out loud.

“Uh… you- “but then, some kind of heaven decides to take pity on Kei, because they hear the last of the people in the trading office being ushered out and the big doors being closed, leaving open only he one that leads to the bar.

_What was I going to say? You too? Well, he’s not pretty, he’s well, hot but…_

_Ugh._

Kei shakes his head and looks away, he drains the last of his glass and stands.

“I have someone to meet downstairs” he says, and he’s sure his mouth has run off with his common sense because he can’t stop himself “You should go quick too”

The other hesitates, suddenly seeming nervous now “Uh yeah, ok”

And he stands up as well, leaving a couple of bills on the table.

Kei turns around and resumes his long-interrupted walk towards the stairs.

He misses the shoulders squaring and the teeth clenching and the eyes growing hungry behind him.

However, he doesn’t miss the sudden, minuscule spike in energy that feels so much like a demon’s that his hand is automatically on the knife that he stores at the side of his leg.

When he turns around, however he finds a stunned expression in the other man’s face, and though he knows that he didn’t have nearly enough to drink that it would make him imagine something like that, he files it away as his head playing tricks on him.

There’s no other explanation.

.

.

.

_Deep red._

_He couldn’t resist._

_What he has missed most of his demon powers is seeing human’s auric bodies, and with this man…_

_He_ couldn’t _resist but to take a peek._

_Perhaps it’s because he knows that he is safe so long as he has to stay in his body now, perhaps it’s because he was sure that the other man wouldn’t notice as certainly the rest of the hunters in the bar didn’t, the minuscule shift in his energy, from psychic to demonic –although he was proved wrong-._

_Perhaps it’s the fact that he still hasn’t recovered to the point where he has the amount of power that he did when they first met and his incubus part is itching for energy –it’s bad enough already that he has to take lessons to enlarge his psychic powers so they cover up the demonic ones as those grow-._

_Maybe it’s just the fact that the_ human _desires of the body are hard to separate from his own while he is like this, and now that he’s so merged with them, he can’t help but feel compelled towards the man –even if, almost laughably, he has no idea how to go about the act as a physical entity instead of as a mass of energy manipulating the dreams and psyche of its victim- and it feels too intense, too new although the human Kuroo Tetsuro was definitely not a virgin, but for the black demon, he couldn’t be more baffled by the strength of these desires even though he knows better than that._

_And with this small peek, he’s all but been tethered._

_The blonde’s aura is deep red, with a small, dark red area and a couple forest green streaks to one side, and bursting with delicious energy._

_Now not only does he physically desire him, but his incubus part is howling for it, even a small chunk of that energy, he can imagine it, and at the same time, he can imagine the young man arching under him, flushed and panting and-_

_He is_ not _going to do this._

_He is **not**_

_At least, he is not going to steal the other’s energy, he knows better, anything else, well…_

_-the image comes back and he almost trips over a step-_

_Yes, he can tell that the other man might not be opposed to the Idea –almost certainly isn’t- but if anything, he’s not going to let his incubus side take control._

_No_

_._

_._

_._

Kei chances a look back at the other when he gets to the foot of the stairs.

Kuroo has gone pale as a sheet, and is looking ahead sternly.

Tsukishima frowns.

Maybe he felt it too?

“Tsukishima-kun” a heavy hand lands on his shoulder “I didn’t expect to see you here after hours.”

Sawamura Daichi is looking up at him with a grin stretching over his face, he is the man that trained Kei, well known for having once taken a fully manifested feral barehanded –well, with telekinesis or the like, one wasn’t ever really barehanded, but Sawamura didn’t have a knife or sword to fight with- and won, it shows too, while Kei is a good four inches taller, Sawamura’s shoulders are almost twice as wide as his.

“Sawamura-san,” he says, respectfully “I came to take a look around”

Sawamura laughs “Yamaguchi and Hitoka-chan are on the back with everyone” Kei smiles slightly “And who would this be?” Sawamura says, noticing Kuroo standing awkwardly behind Tsukishima.

“An a-acquaintance of mine” he says without much thinking, and Kuroo steps forward.

“I’m interested in taking some lessons.” He says, voice serious for once.

In the dim light of the corridor, Daichi’s eyes narrow. “Lessons?”

Kuroo laughs awkwardly “Oh, I know that I’m a bit older than your usual acolyte, but I’ve become interested in it lately”

“Novice, not acolyte” Sawamura looks him up and down and says “Well, you’ve got the potential, but it certainly seems not much control, I’m amazed that you don’t have vases and windows shattering around you”

Kuroo looks confused for a second before he laughs nervously “Uh yeah, that’s happened too”

Sawamura crosses his arms and scoffs good-naturedly “No wonder.”

“So, you’ll teach me?” there’s a hopeful tilt to the dark haired man’s voice, and that’s when Kei realizes that he could have gone ahead a while ago.

“You’re in luck, we have other two novices, though you have a lot more base power”

Kuroo laughs “And I’m sure I’m a lot older”

“That too”

Tsukishima takes another look at the messy haired man and then stares straight ahead.

“I’m going ahead Sawamura-san”

“Sure” the man turns to Kuroo again “As for payment- “

“I’ll go with cash, don’t worry…”

Kei walks straight ahead.

.

.

When he reaches the inner patio, he sees Kageyama fighting with the short ginger that he met earlier.

“Boke! If you deform the energy, you won’t be able to tell what it’s from”

“What does it matter, Bakageyama, I can tell how powerful it was!”

“We need to report back the demon’s classes, Hinata!”

_Glad to know there’s someone that can annoy him even more than I can._

 Deeper inside, he can see Nishinoya talking to another two men, one tall enough that Kei has to crane his neck to look at him, sporting silver-colored hair and _very_ young-looking –he’s convinced that the boy can’t be much older than eighteen- and another only a couple of inches taller than Nishinoya, with light maroon hair, that one, he recognizes as an old friend of Sawamura’s, who despite looking even younger than the tall kid, has a whole three years on Kei.

His name is Yaku.

He also sees Sugawara, Sawamura’s boyfriend, sitting on a bench with Kyoko-san, and in the next bench, just a little further away, is his old friend, and the girl that, well, Kei doesn’t know if Yamaguchi is finally dating her, he hasn’t been around in a while.

-A pang of guilt pierces his chest; he tries to ignore it-

Yamaguchi did follow him to Tokyo as soon as he was able to, after Kei tempestuously and surreptitiously left Miyagi one night –he’s pretty sure Akiteru told him where Kei was going, that little traitor- and though the other doesn’t have the same natural advantage that Kei does, he completed his training fairly quickly, although he, never really left the training center.

Mostly due to the cute accountant that works for them, everyone could see it from the moment they started talking, but as far as Kei came to know, neither made much of a move.

He walks towards them and his hand lands on his friend’s head, messing up the green locks and startling the blonde woman in front of them.

“Wha- Nishinoya-san” the green haired man turns around “Oh, Tsukki! You didn’t tell me you’d be coming”

“I didn’t know myself”

Yamaguchi smiles “Figures”

Yachi excuses herself to bring them some drinks and Kei notices the way her fingers untangle from his friend’s.

He shoots Yamaguchi a knowing look that has his friend’s face going up in flames.

“H-Hitoka, she- “

Yamaguchi is very red, and then Kei is snickering and Yamaguchi is laughing, and when it finally dies down, he says “About time”

“You think so?”

“The entire staff thinks so”

Yamaguchi laughs again “Where have you been, Tsukki?”

And as Tsukishima tries to not let it show that he hasn’t come by in a while mostly out of laziness and chasing a succubus around, the training of the novices begins.

And Kei loses his breath.

Hinata is dressed in shorts and a loose shirt, same as the tall, silver-haired boy –they make an odd picture, there’s good foot of height difference between them.

And Kuroo Tetsuro has taken off his jacket and shirt, as well as his shoes and socks, ending up in a black undershirt that lets Kei see muscled arms and a solid torso.

He is not an adolescent boy that gets riled up by these kinds of things, godammit.

And still.

The first exercise starts, it’s a basic ball of energy, which the tall boy –Lev, he thinks- struggles to form, Hinata struggles to maintain as a ball “It keeps getting spiky, Kageyama, what do I do?”

“Control it, boke!”

And Kuroo gets almost perfectly, if a little too big on his first try.

Nishinoya smirks “Hooo, we have some talent here! Now try to make threads from the fingers of one hand to another”

Kuroo smirks “Easy” and he does, although the threads start to move erratically after a while.

The same results appear with the next two exercises “Hmm, I think it’s more of an issue that you don’t know how to stop the energy when you have enough” And that is important, very important, Kei himself, who prefers to channel his power through metal instruments knows that a drop out of place and blessed knives snap “Oi, Kageyama, can you watch over Shouyo-chan and Lev-san while I spar with Kuroo”

“Spar?” Kuroo says, confused.

“I think it’ll be better if you concentrate on using your power for hand to hand, it’s usually easier to control when it stays inside the body” Noya says “You don’t wanna be a hunter do you?”

Kuroo doesn’t hesitate “No”

“Then it’s easier to control it like this”

“Are you sure about sparring?” Kuroo says, in a dark tone.

And then, Kei sees the absolutely sadistic smirk that takes over Nishinoya’s face.

Kuroo is in for a ride.

And it starts.

The first few lightning fast attacks that Nishinoya throws at Kuroo are dodged sloppily, there’s a constant expression of confusion in Kuroo’s face as he dodges, and his body moves almost unnaturally, although it’s clearly in shape.

And then, from one moment to another, everything changes, Tsukishima sees it happen in the man’s eyes and not only does Kuroo start fighting on equal ground with Nishinoya, he forces him to fight seriously, and then they are both dark blurs jumping and curling around each other with otherworldly swiftness and movements enhanced by their powers.

Each time they stop and Kei catches sight of the taller ma’s sweat drenched skin, Kei has to swallow hard.

He hasn’t been bar hopping in a while, it’s only a natural urge.

Like a whip, Kuroo Tetsuro moves out of the way of a flying kick of Nishinoya’s.

By this point, everyone is just watching in rapt attention.

Kei knows that the reason he wasn’t all that affected by Kuroo when they met was probably that he doesn’t let any kind of emotion take hold of him during hunts –that and that he was frustrated and tired as hell- sure, he registered that the man was attractive then, but not to the point of getting riled up by his presence, somehow, this time around it’s as if Kuroo is more alive, as if there’s something magnetic beckoning Kei closer, and the fact that he’s a pretty decent conversationalist doesn’t help.

-And the little, ever-horny, adolescent spot in the back of his mind tells him that with how long the man’s been going at it with Noya, he must have pretty decent stamina-

“Oh, who is that?” A deep voice asks behind him.

“Believe it or not, a novice” another deep voice, Kei turns around to see Sawamura and Asahi “Where did you find this guy Tsukishima?”

“Uh- “it’s very much the only thing he can say. “A bar, I think?”

“Well, he can keep up with Noya’s energy” Asahi states, looking slightly worried “How long’s it been?”

“About half an hour” Sawamura answers “It’s not normal”

Asahi looks mildly frightened.

Kei is distracted, but when the crashing and swirling of energies stops, everyone, including him, looks up.

Kuroo is coming his way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, that's it, I hope it wasn't too OOC, I'd love to hear what you think.


	3. Lie Weaver

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, hello insomnia my old friend! This is out pretty early, thanks to it. And thank you all for all your kind comments!

The –very much not in control- rational part of his mind, tells him that this is probably what humans call adrenaline or some other secreted chemical that prompts them to do things that they do not understand, and would probably not do if not addled by them.

After all, Kuroo Tetsuro’s body is still fully functional.

And he’s probably right, in the heat of an admittedly _very_ good spar with the short man with bi-colored hair, he felt a pair of eyes following with far too much intent for it to be normal.

And was then that his own moved, and proceeded to catch the rapture in the blonde’s expression.

It felt like a trigger had gone off inside of his head, not to mention that the more _demonic_ urges that he had been trying to suppress earlier, returned full force.

This was how, he finds himself walking towards Tsukishima with steady steps as soon as the spar is called off -he barely heard Nishinoya’s praises-, his more rational, consequence oriented side, naught more than an afterthought, a little voice in the back of his head that barely has any power left but for the one that’s currently exerting rigorous control over his demonic energy –he’s in the midst of almost a dozen of hunters and still not even halfway to full power- that fights to escape and envelop the one it has deemed as prey. The incubus side especially, whispers at him without words how easy it would be to envelop the human in a haze of lust, how the human seems to desire him, or at least the body as well, how he doesn’t even have to hurt him, that even half of the human’s power would suffice to get to half of his own original power, and the human brain conjures up images that are decidedly not helping, of large expanses of pale skin and clouded golden eyes.

He finds himself in front of the very man soon enough, behind him stand the place’s director –owner? - and the bartender he saw a while ago upstairs.

The blonde’s lips are parted, slight surprise adorning his face, eyes a bit wider than normal –in a person who isn’t very expressive, at least-.

Kuroo even catches the slight widening of Tsukishima’s pupils.

Something heavy lands on his shoulder, startling him out of the quasi-trance he was in, and his eyes shift up to meet a satisfied smile in Sawamura’s face.

“It sure is rare to find someone who can spar against Noya for so long and still be able to walk afterwards” still, behind that face, there is distrust, he notices that at some point, a man with silver hair and a slight build has come to stand behind Sawamura, his fingers interlaced with the burly man’s “Have you done any martial arts before?”

He doesn’t have to struggle to remember, though it’s been a while since Kuroo Tetsuro _formally_ practiced, although of course, that doesn’t mean that the man stopped fighting at all “Uh- yeah, I did kung-Fu back when I was younger, and I know some Krav Maga”

It’s the truth, and it must show; because Sawamura’s face softens slightly and the man beside him slackens his grip on his hand.

 Getting adjusted to the body’s movements was harder than he expected it to be, but once he allowed the sensory memories to flow freely, it felt as if he was easing into old habits, although of course, it felt strange having a body so much smaller than his original form, and a completely different spine, but he’d made it work “Are you sure you don’t want to become a hunter?” Sawamura finally says “Once you learn to control that energy of yours, you could be a pretty good one”

There’s only so much irony that can find a fit inside his life, the demon muses, and becoming a hunter would likely be pushing it.

Of course, he doesn’t tell that to Sawamura, instead he smiles in a way that he hopes, comes off as polite, all the while too aware of the blonde man sitting in front of him that has said no word and is currently looking to his left, stubbornly refusing to meet Kuroo’s eyes, and says “It might be interesting but…” he pauses “I have a job I can’t quite leave”

And it’s true, in some measure, Kuroo Tetsuro’s affair will follow him, lest he takes care of them, and hell knows how long he’ll be stuck inside this body –and stuck with it’s strange urges-, it shouldn’t be too hard, after all, up until now, he’s been procrastinating of account of his powers being too easy to identify, as soon as he’s able to mostly hide them…

Yeah, at least that much he owes the former owner of his body.

“I see, well, you can always change your mind” the man laughs, a sound deep and reassuring, and the silver-haired man shifts slightly at his side “Oh, I forgot, this is my fiancé, Sugawara Koushi”

The man bows “A pleasure to meet you Kuroo-san”

And the demon can feel the energy radiating from him, from that pure looking form, while not physically, this man is stronger than he looks.

He makes a note to not get too close to him.

“Same thing to you, Sugawara-san”

“You can call me Suga, you know? Everybody does” the man’s smile gives nothing away.

He smiles again, awkward “I’ll make sure to”

“I really underestimated you, you know?” Sawamura sighs “I’m losing my edge. Oh well, I think we’re done with you for the day, I’ll bring some stuff so you can practice your control tomorrow, as you clearly don’t need to strengthen anything.”

“Uhh thanks, I guess?” he says “I’ll come at around six?”

The man nods “Bring some comfortable clothes to slip into”

“Sure”

Someone clears their throat, he looks down to see Tsukishima getting on his feet, rising to full height where he towers over both him and Sawamura, there’s a slight pink tint to his cheeks. “I’m going, Sawamura” he says, and it almost seems as if he’s about to sigh.

“This early?” the man even looks surprised “You can always stay in one of the rooms upstairs, you know?”

The blonde avoids Sawamura’s gaze, instead, choosing to fixate is own on the ground, though not before shooting a glance at the two people sitting beside him on the bench, the demon saw them talking to Tsukishima, before, but now they seem to be off in their own little world, the girl’s fingers are brushing gently over the back of the man’s hand, and he’s resting his chin on her shoulder speaking softly at her –so much so, that even _he_ can’t quite make out the words-.

A smile adorns her face, peaceful, content.

Something akin to regret races up his nerve endings, and he finds himself forcing a smile on his face and looking back up at Sawamura at the strange feeling, although he can’t quite suppress the shiver.

Damned memories, they are not even his.

“I’ll be by sometime next week either way” Tsukishima scoffs, and the deep, almost arrogant voice is somehow enough to snap him out of his daze.

Sawamura’s hand rises to squeeze at Tsukishima’s shoulder “Do remember to drop by, Tsukishima”

The other groans, but the amusement is clear in his eyes.

Tsukishima bids his farewells to everyone in the little patio.

He leaves the demon for last, and there’s a gleam in his eyes that said demon knows _too_ well when the blonde looks straight at him and states.

“Goodbye Kuroo-san”

Before he even knows what he’s doing, he has turned back around and bowed at Sawamura, who is sporting a knowing gaze, directed specifically towards him.

“I’ll come back tomorrow then”

The large man smiles, little wrinkles forming around his eyes and mouth and suddenly, Kuroo is struck with the thought that he wants to know how old he is.

Hurriedly, he too, says goodbye to the bunch of energetic people that he has just met –his fellow novices are practicing the energy ball again, he’s not jealous of them- and wincing at the sweat that has come to dry on his skin and it’s less than pleasant smell, he puts on his shoes, picks up his jacket and walks right out through where he entered.

.

.

Soon as the man exits the house, he can feel his eyes narrowing, forehead crinkling with tiny creases.

Good thing Daichi is still trying to teach the overly tall novice to make a ball of energy, for all that he is dense, he can read Koushi like a book.

And Koushi is feeling… uneasy to say the least.

Even if there’s not really anything out of the norm –aside from his capabilities- in Kuroo Tetsuro, something makes him unsettled around the man.

He wasn’t lying when he said he knew how to fight from martial arts training, Koushi knows, that _is_ his talent after all, but there’s something more behind everything that remains unexplained, the man _is_ hiding something, of that he is sure.

It’s even more worrying, the way he seems to be meshing with Tsukishima though, the younger man has always been a slight bit more than reluctant to dealing with most people, yet, well according to Asahi, they spoke for a long time upstairs before they both came down.

And the way they looked at each other.

A shiver runs up the silver haired man’s back, and he hopes to whatever entity exists governing the fates of humans that the pure attraction he could feel invading the air every time the eyes of those two met, is only, purely physical.

.

.

The crisp air kisses his skin as he steps outside, the sun is just about halfway from setting completely.

Inside of the patio there was no breeze, so he felt somewhat warm, out here, however, he’s quick to shrug the jacket back on –they’re getting deeper into autumn as it is- and look around himself.

Just as expected.

He’s there.

Golden eyes regard him with a mask of disinterest that covers up the exact opposite.

And he’s reeling.

All of the possibilities of things that might happen, that _will_ happen according to the choices he makes right now fly behind his eyes, in the forefront of his mind and he somehow feels lightheaded for a second.

The blonde man has taken a couple of steps towards him and the expression on his face is still as indescribable as before, but the rushing in his head doesn’t stop, all of the memories that he has, regardless of whether they’re his own or someone else’s, start swirling and mixing until they form a sort of whirlpool of which he can only draw confusion,

It’s like his instincts, coupled with those of his bodies have set off something.

The feral part of him wants nothing to do with this man, he’s dangerous for him, far too powerful and too sensitive, and somehow, something about him makes the demon not want to leave his side.

At the same time, his incubus side is howling, ironically, acting like a shackled wild animal, presented with a delectable meal, just out of reach, threatening to go past the limits of its own strength to make the shackles shift just slightly and grab a bite. Of course, with the strength, the ecstasy of that bite, he’s not sure the shackles will hold, and the very reason for the bind he’s currently in, is that he did use to eat any and every demon of human that attracted his attention, and he knows, from experience as well, that leaving anyone he unleashes that side of him on as an empty shell, while unlikely, is not totally out of the question.

“You’re pale, are you going to puke?” he hears the blonde say, now suddenly much closer than he was just before, and then he realizes that he’s slightly bent and the waist, holding his stomach.

He looks up and meets the other’s eyes.

Finally, the human part of him, temporal as it might be, desires this man, it has since the first time they met in this body, even though at the moment, not being truly melded with the body, he didn’t realize it. That part _wants_ Tsukishima, wants him only for the sake of it –and, he knows, for the most of it, judging by the looks the blond keeps throwing him and the way he very obviously waited outside for Kuroo, it’s mutual- only because he’s human and… and…

A slender, long-fingered hand lands on his shoulder, and as fast as it began, the whirlpool calms, he can distinguish memory from memory, persona from persona and opinion from opinion, he is himself in Kuroo Tetsuro’s body, _his_ body for the time being.

The straightens and looks up at Tsukishima.

This is dangerous.

And yet he’s selfish, he won’t discard the possibility.

But not right now.

Not until the beast is not only tackled but sedated.

Not until he’s sorted out both of his lives, or at least, learned to juggle them better.

“Sorry” he says in the soberest voice that he can “The cold hit me hard”

The other smirks “Sure, it’s not like you overexerted yourself or anything” there’s sarcasm dripping from every one of the blonde’s words.

It isn’t, but he figures it works, still, he finds himself taking a little bit of offense, if only because he has been trying to get in better shape and both he and the late owner of his body are and were prideful beings “That little thing inside” he leans in, smirking maliciously “was nothing”

The other raises a blond, perfectly arched eyebrow at him “May I beg to differ?”

“I’d prove it; if you wanted me to” he says.

The blonde looms over him slightly “And if I said I do?” his voice has gotten deeper and his pupils are blown wide.

Kuroo realizes his mistake.

He’s not used to the subtler nuances of human’s yet, despite having more than enough memories to back up his actions.

-there is also the fact that he tends to forget about such things around this man, or at least so it seems from the short hours of their acquaintanceship-

And so, he has ended up right where he wasn’t supposed to.

-that his hands are itching to brush up over the sides of the man’s waist is most definitely not helping, not when the distance between their bodies is the smallest it has been-

-remembering the deep red aura doesn’t mitigate anything either-

His eyes dart to his sides, the small street is deserted, though they are but a few blocks from some of Shibuya’s busiest streets, he can see no living beings but for some random stray cat that scurries between trashcans as soon as it notices his gaze –animals, in that sense, are so much more intelligent than humans-.

The idea that comes to mind is silly and adolescent.

But otherwise he’ll fall to either side of the abyss and he neither wants to give up on this intriguing person nor surrender to the urges and demands coming from the various components of his actual psyche.

He smirks, thankfully, confidence is not something he’s short on.

“How about a race then?”

As he’s supposed to, the other man looks surprised “A race?”

He hums and nods “To the main street”

Erasing the dumbfounded look on his face, Tsukishima laughs and shakes his head “You _are_ just starting training you know” he says “Old man”

“Shouldn’t be too hard for you to win then, _Tsukki”_

Thankfully, the man seems to have a competitive streak, because, behind the confusion, something shines in his eyes and he all but growls “You’re on”

After some more discussing the logistic of the thing, they get into place and, soon as the phone they’ve set with an alarm beeps, they’re gone.

It’s not exactly a short run, though also, not something that will take them more than a minute and a half, not with the bodies they have.

As they approach the lights of the busy street ahead of them, he looks at the blonde out of the corner of his eye, the sun has fully set, but as they are neck to neck, with the light of the streetlamps, he can make out the man’s features and his golden eyes that are also peering at him curiously.

Again, that bolt of lightning, the whirlpool.

Nausea gnaws at his throat and memories that are not his come to the forefront of his mind, he pumps as much strength, as much energy as he can without blowing his cover into his legs, and head hung low, dashes forward.

That is, until something grabs him by the arm and the recoil throws him back against something warm and hard.

Tetsuro raises his head and looks around, he’s right at the exit of the dingy, empty street and the lights of the passing vehicles are right beside him, not a meter away.

He was not looking ahead, that’s for sure.

His eyes then drift back to the man that stopped him from becoming roadkill just a couple seconds ago.

Tsukishima is frowning and rubbing at his back.

When their eyes meet, he grimaces “One usually looks ahead while running” he says, annoyed.

The scowl suits him, or at least, he thinks, it’s amusing “I’ll make sure to, next time”

The scowl in the blonde’s face deepens and he can’t help but laugh.

When the hearty, deep laugh is out of his system, and he looks back at the blonde, there’s a small smile playing at the edges of his mouth.

Fuck.

He doesn’t know what art of him reacts them, he doesn’t. but whichever it is that takes over his body’s mouth and proceeds to speak is one that he wants to have extirpated soon as someone is able to do it.

One of his hands too, has pulled out his phone –a contraption that he can’t quite get used to, no matter how amusing it sometimes is-.

“Ne, Tsukki, can I have your phone number?”

.

.

The number on the screen blinks back at him, as if mocking his indecisiveness.

His hands shake a little, though, it’s not so much something of his as it is something that comes from before.

After all, he’s about to destroy everything that the former owner of his body did with the last two years of his life.

In the end, the demon thinks very differently to the way the man did, and he’s not going to be at ease until _that_ is taken care of.

And it will be, he needs what it can offer to him for his own purposes.

-he has, after all, not missed _their_ appearances all over the news, around his apartment, it is time. Sometimes, when he thinks of it, Kuroo Tetsuro had a lot of things in common with him-

Still…

His finger, for the fourth time, hits the back button, he notices that there’s a new message.

**_Tsukki ;)_ **

_I see, you should ask Sugawara, he has the best control._

_I’m afraid I cannot be of help._

They have been talking on and off for the past few days; after a blushing Tsukishima berated him for nearly running into ongoing traffic and gave him his number.

**_Me_ **

_I’m not sure he likes me much._

_C’mon Tsukki._

Actually, that went far better than Kuroo expected it to, and despite the fact that the man can be quite astringent at times, he carries a conversation pretty well, not bothered with exchanging little quips or maintain a not so long conversation over a period of hours.

Somehow, he fell and landed at a nigh perfect spot.

Now as for the _other_ call he has to make…

No.

The man sighs and gets up, heading for the kitchen only to remember that he ate the last of the food the former owner purchased yesterday.

He keeps forgetting to eat regularly, as a demon, he didn’t have to, it’s annoying, though he _has_ found himself enjoying the taste of human food, even if it will not aid the recuperation of his power –although it does nourish his body.

There’s also this nagging, restless feeling, he tries to place it, but it’s almost as if there is some jittery matter crawling under his skin and altering his breathing.

He itches.

And so, he reaches for the man’s computer.

-so far, aside from not attacking the blonde hunter, this has been the biggest challenge for him, even with Kuroo Tetsuro’s memories, working these things is, well, slightly annoying, at least the phone is more tolerable now-

He confirms –after some exercise of memory- the exorbitant amount of money in the bank account and heads out.

The supermarket he ends up in is gigantic, and he finds himself getting distracted by the most stupid things, despite having, at least in passing, seen most of them before.

Another surprise is that the finds his hands gravitating towards certain things, despite having never quite tasted them, like strawberries or fresh fish –mackerel, his mind helpfully provides- or a bunch of weird looking fruits which names he can’t quite recall, but they scream of a name –Kenma- and he can’t help but buy the purple things.

There are other things too, microwave popcorn which somehow feels like high school and coffee that is reminiscent of pretty much everything else.

-He picks up some vegetables along the way too, because, some voice in the back of his head, a woman’s voice, tells him that he needs them to strengthen himself and with what is coming, he’ll need it-

A flick blade, some socks, a lighter that he somewhat feels like he’ll need and a kitchen sponge.

In the end, he realizes that maybe he’s bought more than enough.

Oh, who cares.

At the checkout, the pretty girl that helps him smiles flirtatiously at him, and the incubus side, again rebels, though with not half as much force as it does with other people, maybe because she’s just a regular human, who knows? Looking away is enough to erase any thoughts of her from his mind, and he finds himself staring at the box with the cigarettes.

The jittery feeling is back full force, and he remembers that the man used to smoke.

Of course, it’d be that of course, he’d have no idea how anxiety feels.

After all, Kuroo Tetsuro never went more than three days without smoking since he started.

He gets two boxes

He walks back home with his plethora of bags, he knows there’s a car, probably covered with dust in the building’s parking lot that belongs to him, but dealing with any weirder human contraptions doesn’t quite feel right, he can make do with the train.

Inside, he forgoes the various bottles of scotch on display in the cabinet.

He puts anything that seems like it is perishable in the fridge and is out with his new lighter and his cigarettes as soon as he can.

The park is empty, he walks over to a little ledge, meant to separate the sandpit from the other games and flicks the lighter on.

The first inhale, he’s imagined, will feel like heaven.

Instead, he coughs and sputters, tears burn at his eyes and he is forced to again, dive into the ocean of memories to get the _right_ way to do this.

Suck, inhale, exhale.

The second time goes a bit better.

He throws his head back and pulls out his phone.

_If not now, when?_

After all, he doesn’t have class today.

The screen lights up, there’s another message from Tsukki, he’ll read it later; before he can overthink again, he finds the number and hits the call button.

_Beep_

_Beep_

“Hello” the person on the other end has a deep raspy voice, not the kind one would expect to elongate the ‘o’ in such a childish way.

After all, the man is two years older than him.

“Long time” he says, remembering who he _is_ right now “Bokuto”

The gasp on the other side comes immediately “Kuroo?”

“The one and only”

“What do you want?” the man sounds suspicious “You know that Kenma- “

“I do” the pang of pain at those words is purely not his own, thankfully. “I want to meet with you, man” he tries to sound friendly, they have, after all, known each other for sixteen years.

“And why is that, bro? Don’t tell me you changed your mind?”

He sighs “That might be exactly it”

“Hmm” The frown marring the owl’s forehead is almost visible to him as the other responds “What are you up to, Kuroo?”

“I’ll tell you when we meet” he takes a deep breath “So can you or not?”

“I can” the owl says, he sounds more animated, slightly less distrustful. In the end, Bokuto is still Bokuto, he knew the man would not say no “Early tho’ you know how the nights are”

“Yeah, yeah, I know bro” he uses the nickname tentatively, it _has_ been three years

“How about you go wait for me at a tea house in Shibuya, I’ll head out in a bit because I’m close by, I’ll text you the address.” The other says.

The place must be safe.

“Sure”

Bokuto must still be suspicious, though, or at least a little mad, not that he blames the man, because after he mutters a small “See ya” he hangs up immediately.

.

.

**_Tsukki ;)_ **

_I am finishing a TV show_

_I plan to go hunting later in the night. How about you Kuroo-san._

Kuroo taps his fingers nervously on the screen, mostly because he’s been waiting for twenty minutes, although it’s not like Bokuto has ever been known for being punctual.

**_Me_ **

_Oh ho, and what are you watching?_

_I’m… meeting up with an old friend_

There’s some racket downstairs, and heavy steps make their way up the stairs, as the man comes in, the latest text from Tsukishima comes on the screen.

**_Tsukki ;)_ **

_Game of Thrones_

_Huh? Strained relationship?_

He sort of wants to throttle him for being so perceptive of a couple of pixels on a screen.

Still, he decides to reply later, as a wide shouldered, thick-armed man has just sat right in front of him.

The gun hanging at Bokuto’s hip is obvious to all that see it.

In the three years since he has seen the man –well since his last memory of the man, really- he hasn’t changed at all, the bicolored gray and black hair is the same, and so are his golden, birdlike eyes.

-perhaps there are a couple more lines in his forehead, or he is a little bit more muscular, but there are no major changes, even the large scar on the back of the man’s right hand is still there, clear as day-

An elegantly dressed lady walks in and sets a tray with a teapot in front of them.

The face of the man in front of him splits into a huge, wide grin.

“How have you been, bro?”

Typical Bokuto.

“Bored, mostly” he answers “Been idle for a bit too long”

“Hmmm, I see” Bokuto says “Going straight to the point”

“Man, is there any reason not to?” he tries to sound nonchalant.

The other shrugs “Nope, you just seem different”

He pours himself some tea “’m not the only one, who’d have thought you’d become so serious, Bo?”

Bokuto Koutarou shoots him a surprised look “Well, time does pass” He says “You sure have gotten snarky”

Well, fuck, if the man only knew…

“Isn’t one supposed to?” He says, rolling his tongue “Anyways, I want to go back”

Again, another surprised look, the silver-haired man looks away, he almost looks like he’s sulking “I thought you swore off us”

And he remembers, he remembers his harsh words, his leaving in a flurry, in the wake of a disaster.

He also remembers how this man gets sometimes, that little voice marks the start.

“People change, Bo,” he says, and hesitantly lays one of his hands across the table, on top of the other’s shoulder.

He tries to seem sincere, he truly does.

But golden eyes look back up at him. “What do you actually want, Kuroo?”

He grinds his teeth “I saw one of them hanging around my apartment” he says, and it’s true “I’m tired of hiding, Bo, I’m not going to do it anymore”

There’s a pause, a long one, Bokuto regards him with pity but there’s also a sort of joy to his eyes. “Your old post is still there, of course, your dad’s secretary does the best he can, but the years are catching up on him” Bokuto says, and then, with fondness slipping into his tone “Besides, your witchy talents?"

“Just like that?” he says, a little impress, and for the first time in the conversation, Bokuto beams.

“How else, once one of us…”

“Always one of us, I know Bo”

“We’ll have to see if you haven’t gotten rusty, though. Right, bro?”

He laughs, feeling the tension slip away, diffuse through the air “I’ll have you know my witchy things at least, are stronger than ever”

Bokuto bursts out laughing.

They continue talking for a couple of hours, Bokuto seems more mature, at least a little, although that’s not saying much.

The thing, however, is that he realizes he’s not as good an actor as he once thought, at least when it comes to people who knew this man at some or other point.

Bokuto can’t stop pointing out how much he has changed, but he doesn’t seem quite bothered.

As the older man begins to leave, he turns around one last time.

“What are you going to do with them?” he asks.

Kuroo shrugs “Get rid of them”

All of _them._

“Didn’t you say there was no point in taking revenge?”

“I changed my mind.”

Bokuto cranes his head to the side, confused “Well, I’ll see you tomorrow, your team’s the same.

It’s implicit, Kuroo Tetsuro has changed.

.

.

**_Tsukki ;)_ **

_Is it any good?_

_Not anymore, I think._

.

.

Sunday goes well, it’s almost as if he never left the organization or his father’s post.

Of course, he has never been here.

Not really.

And to everyone, it shows

.

.

Again, he has come around to the Shibuya trading house, this time, just a bit earlier so that he may look upon _their_ process.

He has to have eyes everywhere now, of course, who’d have known that in taking the body he did, he would also be dragging along its enemies.

Ones just as lethal at that.

He turns around and heads for the stairs, the class doesn’t start for fifteen minutes, but he’s itching for a cigarette.

-not many news on them, but apparently the humans have discovered that they can reduce an entire building to ashes when properly incensed, the bounties have thus gotten significantly higher-

He’s about half-way down when the tall frame became visible.

Tsukishima is heading for the steps, backpack probably freshly emptied of demon remains, Kuroo idly wonders if Hinata can identify elementals now.

Golden eyes cross his.

“Kuroo” he says.

“Tsukki…” the man frowns “shima. Getting rid of the catch of the week?”

Tsukishima makes a face; it’s obviously supposed to mean ‘well duh’ “It was a busy one”

“Hmm I guess so” he says and Tsukishima tries to step around here to get to the second floor 2Are you staying after hours today?”

Tsukishima glances at him out of the corner of his eye “Maybe?”

“You should” he smirks “Spar with me, actually”

The blond looks unimpressed “Maybe, we’ll see”

And he steps around Kuroo, taking the stairs, when he’s outside, sucking on his cigarette, the demon muses that he didn’t miss the pink tint to the man’s cheeks.

.

.

He doesn’t quite expect the blond to come around, they have been talking on and off for a while, but he doesn’t look like the kind that likes extra practice very much, and of course, if it really has been a tough week…

So, of course, it’s a huge surprise when, as he is trying to keep control of a floating energy orb, he sees Tsukishima walk in in an undershirt and some pants that seem like they were borrowed from someone shorter, because his delicate ankles and part of his calves are on display.

The other man steps into the polished, smooth stone floor.

He doesn’t look uncomfortable, and, of course, the first one to leap at him demanding he spar with them is Hinata, who has been getting on Kageyama’s nerves all evening –he can identify stuff now, it’s just that he _only_ wants to spar and Kageyama seems like he’s about to drop dead asleep-.

A glare is enough to keep the short ginger away.

Nishinoya walks up to him “Finally decided to come practice with your old team huh, Tsukishima?”

“I was bored” Kuroo doesn’t miss the glance that is thrown his way as the younger man says that.

The short man scoffs “Buh, whatever, what do you wanna do, want to work on your divination with Suga-san?”

It must be some inside joke because everybody but him, Lev and Hinata snickers and Tsukishima grows pale.

Behind him, someone mutters “He can’t do divination to save his life” it’s a deep though gentle voice. He turns around, dispersing the orb to look at the bartender “It used to make both him and Suga-san become very frustrated with each other”

The demon smiles “I can imagine it” he tells him “Asahi-san?”

“Yeah” the other man says “I have to commend you; you hold up well against Noya”

He can feel redness beginning to build in his cheeks “Uh thanks” The man looks ahead again, Nishinoya seems to still be badgering the blonde. Kuroo smiles at the long haired man and says “I think I’ll sweep in”

Asahi chuckles “That m-might be for the best”

With steady steps, he walks up to the two men. “I’d be glad to spar with you” he says, politely.

The golden eyes look grateful.

Nishinoya lets out a howl and leads them both to the center of the patio.

“No weapons, right?” Tsukishima tells him.

He just nods.

And they start.

He comes to understand why Tsukishima acts alone, and he does so well.

The man has what he lacks, he has an iron grip on the energy of which his body seems to have an endless supply of.

His movements are sharp and very technique-oriented, perhaps that is his only weakness because to one who has seen many fights of many styles, it became a bit predictable.

Still, he’s fast, and if there’s a thing in the world that is true, it is that it doesn’t matter what you can see coming, so long as you couldn’t stop it.

Eventually, it turns into them running their energy through their muscles and joints, a battle of grappling where his more animalistic instincts, learned from both his feral nature and the young years of his body face Tsukishima’s technical proficiency.

And god, he shouldn’t have suggested this.,

Everything turns blurry, not in an unpleasant way, but as if he can’t concentrate on anything but both winning on one side and consuming on the other, and it’s slightly terrifying as well as thrilling, because there comes a point where Tsukishima is pinning him down and he has his legs across the other’s neck.

Like many times before, they stop for a second, just enough for the heat to simmer and their eyes to crash into each other.

Distantly, he can hear the rest talking.

“I can’t believe Tsukishima isn’t using his transference, isn’t that his specialty?”

“Well, I can’t believe that guy is a newbie…”

“…Should I stop them, Daichi? It’s getting late…”

“Let them let it out, love”

“… Boke! That’s not it… here, I’ll help”

“…I’ve never seen Tsukki so…”

“Passionate?”

“Ohh Kageyama, thanks…”

“Until there comes a point when he’s so exhausted that he finds himself crumbling on the floor next to Tsukishima’s heaving form.

The polluted sky gleams back at him, there’s not one star in sight.

Dimly, he realizes that only Tsukishima’s green haired friend and the girl that seems like she’s his girlfriend remain.

Sawamura and Sugawara seem to be in one of the adjacent rooms, though.

After he’s gotten some breath back, he pushes himself up on his shoulders and turns to look at the other man.

The way their gazes catch is almost as if he’s being reeled in by a line with a fishing hook, it’s the inexorable force of something stronger than he is, and so, his aching back bends just so that his mouth is soon hovering a couple of inches over the parted, bitten-red lips of Kei’s.

Their breaths intermingle, their noses all but brush and they both lose all of their breath.

But he’s petrified, there are implications to this, now more than before, and he knows it’s the memories that aren’t his talking far more than it is he himself, but if there’s a bad time, this is it.

And he can’t pull away either, he wants it too much.

It is then that the impossible happens a white hand comes up to rest on his shoulder and the back of that slim, beautiful human being begins to arch.

Their noses are touching, he’s about to combust.

“Are you done, guys?” Sawamura’s voice cuts through the atmosphere like an ice knife “Oh sorry?”

But it’s too late, Tsukishima has gone completely red, and startled out of his position, Tetsuro has sat back on his elbows again.

The blonde gets up hurriedly, with barely a glance his way and runs to the changing rooms.

When Kuroo goes out into the chilly street, Tsukishima is not there.

.

.

**_Tsukki ;)_ **

_Would you like to meet up sometime?_

He’s lost, at least to get to know him, he has to get close.

.

.

He has not yet fallen asleep, though his eyes have been closed for about an hour.

One of the more glaring changes on his body since the demonic nature started to permeate it is that while he still does need a small amount, he doesn’t need to sleep as much, this leaves him with great lengths of nigh unkillable time.

He’s taken to practicing his control at those times, in the safety of his apartment.

It’s after all, bad enough that he’s been failing greatly at the finer exercises, not to speak of his constant fear that his energy will present itself as demonic in a room filled with hunters.

-he remembers the day Tsukishima was able to feel even the smallest, slightest spike when he read the other man’s aura, then he wonders how the blond would look at him with those intelligent golden eyes if he were to feel it-

Sugawara especially worries him, there’s something about the man’s sensing abilities that unsettles him.

He finds himself craving another cigarette, and curses the day Kuroo Tetsuro started smoking, because the demon is used to getting his way and now he can barely cut down on the damned things, not to talk about fucking quitting.

A sigh slides up his throat and he pushes himself up, swinging long legs over the edge of the bed, relishing on the feel of his bare toes against the soft carpet, and makes his way toward the cupboard, where he hid the cigarettes earlier, promising himself that the one he smoked as he saw the human world’s sunset would be the last of the day –well, to be sincere, the same happened with the mackerel and the strawberries, he’s not surprised he has no control, really-.

 _Technically._ He muses, as he passes the clock in the living room and notes that it’s two in the morning. _I didn’t lie._

The flick of the lighter as it spews out a mostly blue and orange flame is satisfying, and he finds that there’s a pleasure foreign to himself as the poisonous smoke fills his lungs.

The man exhales, and watches quietly how the spirals of smoke curl in on themselves, how they mesh and meld and, in the absence of any breeze, gracefully fold over each other in unbelievable designs.

Of course, that is when someone decides to start banging on his door like their life depends on it, in fact, they even seem to have forgotten that there is a bell until a couple of minutes have passed and the incessant pounding has given way to an annoying ringing that promises not to stop until he opens the door.

Kuroo walks up to it, noticing that there’s no peephole, and cursing inwardly.

_Oh, for fuck’s sake. I’m a demon, see if this idiot can compare._

And he swings the door open.

The first thing that catches his eye, or at least draws all of his body’s unruly attention towards it, is the beautiful face of the man standing in front of him.

Despite the gauntness of his cheeks and the dark bags under his eyes, the man –or boy? He’s not very good at determining ages- standing in front of him is beautiful. His face is shaped like an oval, he has a small nose and thick lips and emerald green eyes. A mess of soft curls is nestled atop of his head and the small pants that escape from his mouth as he leans into the doorframe are positively alluring.

When the initial, hormonal response ends, he notices a couple more things.

One; he can feel a very small psychic presence from the man.

Two; the stranger is wearing a hospital gown that barely covers his pale legs down to the knee.

Three; there’s blood pouring profusely out of the juncture between his arm and his forearm, and he has other lacerations, small ones, around his mouth and wrists, as if he hastily retired all medical equipment around and inside him.

“Who the hell are you?” he snarls.

“Good; I found you” the stranger pants “Good”

The boy slumps further into the door frame and only then, does Kuroo feel the very familiar energy radiating from him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Muahahhaahah I really like cliffhangers I’ll admit, Next chapter’s Kei’s. I’d really love to know how y’all think I’m doing!  
> Love, Kyrye.


	4. Mirror cracker

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Tsukki’s chapter!

He’s an idiot, an utter idiot.

Kei heads home by foot, with the neon blur of Tokyo speeding at his sides, becoming more of a streamline of light than any individually recognizable sources.

Of course, he’s not thinking that about himself; he’s thinking such things about one Kuroo Tetsuro.

It’s like the man either doesn’t know what he wants or he’s simply playing around to see if he can fluster Kei.

-and damn well succeeding at it-

The blond himself knows what _he_ wants, he has since the first time he saw the man at the bar, even though at that moment, being focused on his hunt and tired as hell, it hadn’t registered with the weight that belonged to one such thing.

He is even willing to bet that perhaps it hadn’t because typically such weight wouldn’t belong to the revelation of him being attracted to another man to almost ridiculous levels, but rather that the fact that now that he knows the man on a baseline level and he is – funny, somewhat charming, gifted as hell- all of the things he is in addition to being attractive, is what gives it so much weight, such an increased capacity to unsettle his mind.

And so, it’s increasingly frustrating how when Kei would really like to hook up with the man, that he doesn’t even treat him like he treats everyone else, but regards Kei with a behavior that suggests he wants him, and yet the blond can _tell_ that there is an ocean of hesitation awaiting him behind the other’s pupils.

How the dark haired man leaned over him, intent to kiss him clear after they literally spent a couple of hours fighting –dancing- around the issue.

How when he stopped, in abject rapture, Kei leaned up, ignoring the hesitation in the other’s eyes.

How the man’s lips parted and his pupils dilated…

All of the way to his apartment is spent submerged in such thoughts, toeing the line between irritated and mildly aroused, eventually deciding for the latter.

The inside of his apartment greets him with a stale atmosphere, and for once, he feels compelled to open the windows just so that the air can get in.

-he’s feeling out of breath himself-

A cup of instant noodles serves as dinner, some old, holey sweatpants as pajamas, it’s almost summer and decidedly too warm in the apartment.

Rush hour has already passed in his sector of the neighborhood, and since it’s early in the week, he doesn’t have to worry about much noise from now on.

The breathless feeling remains.

Long, pale fingers turn the TV on, he doesn’t do so often, but he’s in no mood to look for his laptops charger.

And the stories of the news start drifting by –because he doesn’t have cable; what for? All he ever watches is just as if not more available online and it’s not like Kei has that much free time-.

Several traffic accidents, news about the recent sightings of the incorporeal that he’s starting to get curious about himself, the rise to fame of some pop star, the asylum escapee son of some minor tycoon, news about Japan’s sports teams…

Groaning, he turns around, pressing his cheek to the pillow, feeling like the air has become molasses.

With a hasty hand, Kei presses the off button on the tv and sighs.

When his eyes open, he can almost see the way Kuroo’s form would look beside him, eyes smoldering, dark with intensity.

It is not long afterward that he notices the weight in his lower abdomen and his own labored breathing.

With a groan perhaps even louder than before, he turns over to lay flat on his back.

Oh god, whatever.

-he hasn’t taken care of himself in a while too, he hasn’t even hooked up with someone at a bar, his libido, with the exception of the present case, has always been like that, short bursts each separated from another by a short amount of time-.

Not wearing a shirt to bed –as is his old habit- makes it even easier.

His right-hand slides up to brush over the skin stretches taut over his pectorals, noting that maybe his fingernails have grown a bit too long as he grabs one hardened nipple and proceeds to twist it lightly, reveling in the very small twinge of pain mixed in with the pleasant sensation that races along his nerve endings.

And then the images come, and Tsukishima doesn’t even bother with trying to stave them off.

-it will only make it worse, he knows, he learned so when his first crush on one of his upperclassmen came around-

The hand that isn’t busy teasing and pulling at his nipple slides down, gliding over his hipbones, far too warm.

_Kuroo’s darker skin against his own, pulling the man flush against him, sinking his fingers in the muscles of the other’s sides._

His tongue peeks out to lap at his lower lip and his lips catch onto it, he has sturdy walls, it’s true, but to his utter embarrassment, has a tendency to get loud.

_A hot mouth moving against the side of his neck, teeth scraping down his chest as he watches the man’s knees bend and the unruly mop of hair on his head sink._

The edge of his pants is lowered, allowing his shaft to slip out and the whimper that escapes his mouth when his hand finally comes to close around it is nothing short of breathless.

_Deft hands unbuckling his pants, he imagines not being able to break eye contact with the man, he imagines that damned smirk breaking just so Kuroo’s lips can wrap around the head of his cock._

“Ah” At some point he has spread his legs and lifted his hips, the hand that was teasing at his chest is now pressing patterns into the soft skin of his inner thighs while the other –aided by some conveniently placed lotion and the precum that he’s leaking- has begun pumping his length at a steady pace. “Fuck- “

_“You have nice moans Tsukki” the man says, as his hands cup Kei’s backside and squeeze it, and then, his mouth is right back to it, swallowing his length in one go and sucking. Dark eyes look up at him from above hollowed out cheeks._

With every upwards stroke, his thumb stars swiping over the too-sensitive head of his dick, at this point, he knows that even if he isn’t focused enough to register them, a string of moans is escaping almost steadily from his open mouth.

_The man’s hands squeeze one last time and proceed to busy themselves with delving deeper, teasing at his hole before they retreat and come back from the front of Kei’s spread legs to cup and toy with his balls._

His hips stutter, arch off the bed, he’s thrusting his leaking cock into his hand now more than he is even stroking, and his feet are digging into the soft mattress. His teeth dig into his lower lip until he tastes iron, and at the slight stab of pain that makes them let go, a bellowing moan escapes.

_Somehow the smirk is now in his eyes, unable to take it anymore, Kei thrusts forwards, hands burying in Tetsuro’s unruly hair as the older man readjusts himself and starts bobbing his head slowly, swallowing him whole._

_“Come for me, Tsukki”_

And he does, with his pants around his knees and a moan that’s more of a scream, back arching artfully off the bed and then falling limp onto it along with his tired legs, moisture shooting over his stomach.

_The man stands as soon as Kei has recovered some sort of self-awareness, and then it’s the blond sinking to his knees and gripping Kuroo’s knees_

_“Oh, ho, ho?”_

After much toe prodding and wiggling, he manages to get a blanket over his spent body.

He’s exhausted, from the sparring and the hunting and just everything. Kei forces his eyes closed and slips into slumber but –and he knew this would happen- the images won’t cease for another long while.

.

.

The frustration doesn’t wear off, through the couple of days that pass.

And before he’d want to, he finds himself at the trading center -he picked up only a couple of bounties and he’s already out- he takes care, however, to go on Saturday’s morning when he’s almost sure that Kuroo won’t be there.

But of course, such is his luck, oh such it is that he decides to go talk to Tadashi first –because his friend teaches the preteens at this hour on Saturdays and Kei wants to feel _normal_ at least today and the green haired man called him last night, requesting to see him at some point soon-  and strides through the door to the patio, all comfortable and tranquil only to freeze when he spots the two dark-haired figures standing in the middle of the patio in front of Sawamura.

He catches only a snippet of their conversation over the ruckus of a bunch of psychic seven-year-olds and Tadashi’s attempt at a stern voice –something about the man by Kuroo’s side and control? Yeah, something like that- before robotically trying to turn around and go back the way he came from, only snatching a couple of bounties from the board.

Of course, again, Tadashi notices him before he manages to.

“Tsukki” the man turns to the rambunctious children “Now, practice exercise number three while I go talk to Tsukishima-san”

“Is Tsukishima-san going to teach us too?” one asks.

_Hah._ Kei thinks _. Fat chance._

Tadashi chuckles “Not for now, no, I don’t think so” and he turns away from the children, heading for Kei almost immediately “I didn’t think you’d drop by so soon, Tsukki” he says, and there’s an edge of distrust to the phrase, born from the fact that they have known each other since second grade.

Kei shrugs “I ran out of bounties”

“Oh” the man says, timidly “Listen I’m a bit tight” the man says, fiddling with his fingers “I wanted to ask you something- “

“Tsukishima” a soft voice speaks from behind him, and he turns to find the very same group he hoped to avoid, plus a knowing looking Suga, the owner of the voice “you’ve been visiting us back here a lot more lately”

“U-Uh, yeah, I- “, well, what is he supposed to say?” Thankfully, it isn’t long before he regains his composure “I’ve just felt like it”

“I see” Suga says, and then, Kuroo thankfully –or not- cuts in.

“Tsukki!” he says, grinning, though, Kei notes, some worry reflects in his eyes “Strange seeing you here this early”

“I ran out of bounties, Kuroo-san” he says, looking away, and unwittingly meeting the piercing green eyes of Kuroo’s guest “Though I could say the same to you” he says, while digesting the image in front of him “This is the preteen class, you can’t tell me your control matches up.”

“Tsukki” Yamaguchi says, disapprovingly.

And Kei knows, he knows that it sounds like an attack, that it’s a step further from proper than even _he_ usually is, but he’s both on guard from everything his mind has been providing him about the older man for the past few days, and suddenly frustrated at the stranger in front of him.

The man is standing far too close to Kuroo for normal friends, and he’s in one-word stunning.

Kei does know that he himself is attractive, but the young man –because he at least _looks_ younger than Kei- has an ethereal quality about his slender body.

His skin is pale and unblemished; as if he hasn’t been out in the sun for a long time, and his eyes are a green that he has never seen on anyone before, backlit by a flame of stubbornness that even _he_ can see.

The stranger’s hair is a mess of dark curls that frames his cherubic face, it’s perhaps a bit too messy, but it only manages to give him an air of something that must be protected.

The beautiful man is holding tightly to the sleeve of Kuroo’s jacket, and they exchange a brief look.

-his ears have begun to ring, he can’t quite focus on anything but the two in front of him-

Kuroo doesn’t seem offended though “Ah, we didn’t know that, we just needed some lessons for Akaashi here” he pats the man on the shoulder.

“A pleasure” the man says “Akaashi Keiji” and he bows, ever so slightly, distrust shining in his expression.

“Tsukishima Kei” he bows, just as slightly “Are you just starting too Akaashi-san?” he says, it’s a barb, again.

The man hesitates “I studied divination for most of my life” he says, and if Kei disliked him before, now… yeah, divination is a sore spot –let’s just say that no one ever wants to see Suga that frustrated again, except perhaps, maybe Sawamura who got to take care of him afterward- “But lately I’ve become interested in more combat oriented training”

“I see” Kei says, trying not to seethe “Akaashi-san, a sudden interest?”

Kuroo’s eyes have been glued to his face during the whole conversation, Kei knows well.

The green eyed man smiles, amused “I’m taking a couple of semesters off of college” he says “I figured I’d get a hobby”

And in the most passive-aggressive way he can, Kei raises an eyebrow and asks “College? How old are you?”

And it is then that he sees it, another unsettling similarity between the two creatures in front of him, the green-eyed man struggles, he hesitates markedly, just as Kuroo did the night he and Kei met and with the exact same question. Even if after a couple of seconds, he regains his composure, at least to Kei, it’s pretty evident “I’m nineteen” the man answers, for a second seeming sad. “If I may return the question?”

“I’m twenty-three,nervous looking” Kei says back, and directs a glance towards Kuroo, who doesn’t seem mortified by this either.

Tsukishima’s blood boils, if only a little.

“Well, then, I guess I’ll see you around” he says, bowing “Akaashi-san, Kuroo-san” then he turns to Yamaguchi “Usual place toninervous-looking

“Sure” a Tadashi says, glancing back at his students “I’ll see you Tsukki”

He has already turned around when a heavy hand lands on his arm and throws him slightly off balance “come spar with me some time Tsukki” there’s a tilt of something he can’t quite recognize in the man’s voice, maybe it’s a bit of desperation? Or mortification? When he turns his head around Kuroo looks as confused by his own actions as Kei himself is.

The blond raises his own hand coolly to grasp at the other’s wrist, ignoring the spark of electricity that runs through his skin then “I guess we’ll see Kuroo-san”

And then, he turns to the place where Sugawara and Sawamura have become engrossed in their own conversation to bide them goodbye and warn them that he’s taking a couple of bounties from the board.

As he’s almost mechanically executing that last action, he realizes another thing, namely, the way that the t-shirt he was wearing almost fell off his bony shoulder, and the belt that was pulled tight to keep the pants he wore from sliding off.

He grits his teeth.

.

.

It was most certainly the blinding jealousy –because though he denied it to himself, he knew that it is what it was- that prevented him from properly analyzing the cases he took, he only checked that they weren’t unnecessary trouble –namely the weird demon that had been showing up lately- but that was only in revising the details, it didn’t occur him to check well the places or the quirks of each case, just as he didn’t ever think Akaashi’s hesitation or read his energy.

Just as when there was a twinge of recognition in the back of his head towards the younger man, he just brushed it off as paranoia.

That’s why he’s where he is here now, he thinks, all of those things –well, not maybe the ones pertaining Akaashi, but the ones about the hunts-.

He leaps all the way out of the trajectory of what looks like a tentacle of solidified mist that has left several welts on his arm already at the slightest contact with it.

Fucking incorporeal.

It doesn’t help that it has been muttering from pretty much everywhere in as many languages as there seem to be in the world, at first, it was Latin, then Greek, both which he can identify, but not quite understand.

When English came, he had to question the functionality of his own ears.

Japanese was the one that he couldn’t chalk up to exhaustion.

_Child smells like_ him _, child has_ his _energy, this child will be useful._

Whoever _he_ is, is quite a mystery to him.

For the moment, he decides to focus on getting out alive and chalk the thing’s crazed ramblings to the fact that it’s some abomination from god knows which dimensional fold.

It doesn’t calm the uncomfortable feeling that has taken over his stomach in the slightest, but that was to be expected.

After all, it was a reckless thing to just leave for what looked like a simple mission as soon as he got out of the center, he should’ve at least thought a bit more about the area, and the particularities of the case.

It seemed like a feral, it was actually the textbook description of a feral, and that, coupled with its location, almost beside the place where the incorporeal had last been seen should have tipped Tsukishima off.

He doesn’t make these kinds of mistakes.

Eyes wide open, he leaps to the side, landing with a roll that scrapes off some skin from his forearm in the place where there are already forming welts.

Kei hisses and gets up again.

Transference, his specialty, works by running his power through objects, of course, blessed materials, pure in their manufacturing work best. However, precisely because of this, he’s ill-matched to fight with an incorporeal, at least so long as they are as powerful as he is or more, the weaker ones he can dispatch with incantations either way but…

Yeah, his knives will not be enough this time around.

He stills himself and closes his eyes, preparing the state of deepest focus he can muster.

The knives go back to their sheaths, he won’t need them, at least for the time being.

It’s an incantation that works for most incorporeal demons, and again, not his preferred method of fighting, not even one he marginally likes, and in fact, loathe as he is to admit it, Tadashi bests him at it by far, but, knowing that he most likely can’t kill this thing, he’s aware that it’ll been enough to neutralize it for so long as it is necessary.

And so, he dodges, through the rarefied air and the wisps of sulfur, all the while muttering the words that he’s learned by heart under his breath and trying not to wince when his skin is burned –he also has a pretty nasty stab on the side of his abdomen, he doesn’t particularly want to think about-  and just as the mass of darkness has retreated into itself to form a hulking monster that threatens to fall over him and either reduce him to ash or imprison him, he finishes.

Something akin to light bursts from his pores, it’s pure power that takes the form of substance, and fills the darkened room so brightly that even he cannot see.

Kei turns around and, still blinded, runs away as fast as he dares to with his exhausted legs.

.

.

The shower he takes at home is excruciating, not only because of the sore muscles, the power depletion or the welts on his skin that sting when the water touches them –he managed to patch his side quite well, but he’s got no idea how to deal with the skin abrasions, or at least, they haven’t responded to the standard procedures so far- but for the permeating smell of sulfur that seems to be stuck to his skin.

Half a bottle of body wash later, he deems the endeavor pointless, having only scraped off about half the intensity of the smell, gets dressed and goes to meet Yamaguchi.

.

.

“Tsukki, you- you- “the younger man seems terrified, Tsukishima rolls his eyes, Tadashi hasn’t even seen the shape his forearms are in yet.

“I know, I reek” he says, simply “I had a run-in with that incorporeal that has been causing trouble lately”

“Tsukki! I thought you- Are you alright?” Yamaguchi’s large, green eyes stare at him.

Kei looks away “I’m fine, I just don’t know how to heal the welts it left behind. Why are you so concerned?” it’s meant more as an exasperated statement, but Tadashi takes it to heart.

“There have been deaths” he says, quietly. Their usual place is a small bar-restaurant close to the trading center, it’s not the usual haunt of psychics or bounty hunters, so they mostly try not to talk about things pertaining to their jobs there too much “You stay away from us a lot, but even one of the guys from the Iron Wall died trying to get rid of this one”

And that much is news, the iron wall is well known for their nigh-impenetrable defense.

“It’s not like I went chasing the thing on purpose” Kei says defensively, and sighs “Can you do something about these?” he lifts the sleeve of his button down and Yamaguchi looks mildly horrified.

The welts are swollen and pink, very obviously far from healing or even drying up.

“I’m not sure Tsukki” his friend’s fingers skim over the wounds lightly.

Suddenly Kei feels a surge of heat, stinging, so much so that he retracts his arm with a hiss. He knows that what Yamaguchi just did should have had a pleasant warmth as its effect, and it did, in the unharmed skin surrounding the welt. “Ouch, what the hell?”

“Sorry Tsukki” Yamaguchi says “Maybe you can ask Suga-san, it might be the type you have to let heal naturally instead of interfering.

Kei frowns “What the hell was that thing?” his shirt sleeve is tugged back down and he takes a swig at his beer, hoping that it will dull the slight stinging.

Yamaguchi shakes his head “Nobody knows; you should keep your distance”

“Tch, of course” he says “I’m not foolhardy”

“No you aren’t” His friend agrees “Come on Monday afternoon, Suga-san and Daichi-san should be back by then”

Tsukishima raises an eyebrow “They’re gone?”

“Yeah, it’s their monthly weekend for themselves” the blond grimaces and looks away “Oh c’mon, Tsukki, don’t be like that”

“Like what?” Yamaguchi gives him a look “Look, I just don’t find it amusing”

“You’ll find someone, you’ll see” Yamaguchi says, suddenly sounding like his grandmother “Actually, I- “and then he chokes up, and Kei remembers the reason they are meeting up in the first place.

“Finally tying the knot?” he asks, amused, even if he finds romantic antics awkward most of the time, he can’t help but feel glad for his best friend.

Tadashi goes red “No… I mean- Probably? I don’t know if now she- “

Tsukishima pushes the man’s own glass towards him “Breathe”

The green-haired man takes a swig and stays quiet for a while, looking everywhere but at his friend “Hitoka’s pregnant”

Eyes widening, he feels in dire need for another drink “I thought you two had just- “

Yamaguchi cuts him off “No, no, we just… wanted to keep it silent, it’s been almost eight months, it’s just, you haven’t been around much”

He feels a pang of guilt at his friend’s words, it’s the truth, although he has his own reasons for having been so absent lately, that doesn’t excuse him very much.

Kei takes a deep breath “So is this a good thing, or a bad thing?” he says “you’re both adults after all”

“It’s good” Tadashi says, brightening up a little “Her mom isn’t going to be pleased, but…”

“You know her mom” Kei deadpans, and wonders when he detached himself so much from his old friends.

“Uh, yes?” Yamaguchi says “I guess- I’m actually freaking out over nothing, It’s not the baby, we’re glad about the baby”

“So?” Kei says.

“Would you do us the honor of being the godfather?” Yamaguchi starts “Kyoko-san is going to be the god mother so um- “

“Sure” It’s not like he has to think about it twice, it is his best friend.

He will have to drop by more often now though, even if it means running into Kuroo some more.

.

.

That said, Monday finds him standing at the top of the stairs, staving off the need to go for another drink –or five- in fact, if it weren’t because the damned welts refuse to show the slightest sign of getting better, well, he’d be at home.

After all, the two other bounties he picked on Saturday, almost as if counterbalancing the hellish issue with the incorporeal, turned out laughably easy and he doesn’t even quite need the money much, since he is good at saving and planning and such things have granted him a decent enough cushion of funds to fall back in for more than a few months if he so wished.

-of course he doesn’t, even Kei acknowledges that he’s a workaholic, the adrenaline rushed certainly do not help-

Still, he really wants these things healed –and is grateful that what injured his side was some piece of sharp debris instead of an actual tentacle, god knows how _that_ would be feeling by this point-.

Feeling dreadful, he walks down the steps and heads straight for the room where Suga often conducts his healing and divination classes –the thought of the latter just makes him shudder, the healing not so much, while no prodigy, Tsukishima is decent- as he passes the patio, he notices Kuroo beginning to train some sort of control with Hinata, and almost with glee, doesn’t find the dark haired man from Saturday anywhere close by.

He shoves the door open and peers inside “Suga-san, do you- “his gaze is met with brilliant, bottle green “Akaashi”

“Good to see you so soon Tsukishima” he didn’t notice on Saturday, but the man’s speaking patterns are a bit outdated, a bit too formal, perhaps he’s from a traditional family or something? He seems like he could be from one of those old, stuffy clans.

In front of the green eyed man sits the one Tsukishima is looking for “Tsukishima, do you need me for anything?” he says cheerily and Kei recoils.

“I can wait until the lesson is over” he says, clasping his hand over one of his bare forearms –with each passing hour, despite the pain neither lessening nor increasing, the thought of fabric touching the welts has become more and more unbearable- “It’s just something I need help healing”

“Oh” Sugawara’s face goes blank, it almost seems like he is running through a myriad of scenarios in his head “Come in then, we were just needing someone to practice on”

“No, I can- “

Akaashi suddenly sniffs and his nose wrinkles “You should come in, Tsukishima” he says, voice flat “It smells like our might have some residue”

“Kei grits his teeth and then Suga sniffs at the air.

“Yes… Now that you mention it…” he says, and Kei is both beyond mortified and worried, he has gone through more bottles of body wash than he cares to admit, by this point out of sheer exposure, he doesn’t smell it, but it the others can still do so… “Come here, Tsukishima” Sugawara says in his stern, no nonsense voice, and out of sheer habit, he does, stepping inside and shutting the door behind him.

He can feel two pairs of exceedingly sharp eyes upon him.

Akaashi’s settle on the wounds first, but Sugawara’s follow them not long after.

“Did you try to heal this yourself?” Sugawara asks, almost pale, standing from his cushioned seat. Kei nods “What happened?”

“The incorporeal that got one of the Iron Wall’s” Kei answers as the cool fingertips of his teacher skim over his skin.

“Oh” Sugawara says “How do you- “he shakes his head “I meant what happened when you tried to heal them”

Kei looks away “At first they bled a little, now it’s just far more painful than leaving them like that, and it does no good”

“Well, of course” Akaashi says suddenly from his seat “It’s masked but the demonic energy is still there”

Sugawara perks up, although the worry does not manage to disappear completely form his face “Exactly. How do you know Keiji-kun?”

The younger man goes pale “I’ve seen it, once” he says “A friend, from way back.”

“Yeah” Sugawara says “It’s pretty powerful to be so well hidden behind Tsukishima’s energy, but it’s definitely there”

“You know how to treat it?” Akaashi asks, mirroring Kei’s own thoughts.

“I do” Sugawara says “If I can do it is completely different”

“What do you mean?” Kei says. “You can’t treat it”

“I’m not sure I have enough energy” the man says, and it _is_ true that Suga has never been known for exaggerated reserves like Kei has. The silver-haired man starts muttering, pressing a hand to his chin “Keiji-kun doesn’t either… Daichi and Noya are out… Kageyama doesn’t… Hinata-kun and Lev-kun are too green and Tadashi-kun is out too… Akaashi-kun, could you call your cousin in for a second?”

Cousin? “Cousin?” Kei asks, not fully understanding the last of Suga’s statement.

“Sure” Akaashi says and promptly steps out of the room.

“Kuroo-san didn’t tell you on Saturday, I guess” the silver haired man’s smile turns mischievous for a second “Keiji-kun and him are cousins”

Kei stops and wonders, slightly stunned, the two men hardly have much in common, except for the hair color and the fact that they are both tall and attractive, albeit in very different ways.

He is left doubting their connection, although it seems rational to him, it makes sense that they’d be familiar with each other, that both of them would be mostly untrained and that they share quirks. They’d have no reason to lie, especially when the first time Kuroo met Suga, Daichi presented him as his fiancé.

Suddenly, he feels a little less indisposed to meeting the man.

That is until he comes through the door and Kei finds himself petrified.

.

.

_The closer he gets to the room, the smell of sulfur becomes stronger, and it becomes clearer that it is intermingled with that of the man that he has tried and failed to avoid thinking for the past two days –Between Bokuto and the other demon and everything else-._

_-this human body is far too unruly; he has decided-_

_But that smell can only mean a very limited number of things, and in the end it’s not even luck, It’s just that the most likely demons who could leave some imprint like that upon Kei are also the ones that are currently looking for Kuroo, and of course, the only ones big enough to still be transitioning after more than a couple of weeks, though in that respect, being incorporeal doesn’t quite help._

_The other demon’s eyes speak all that he needs to know either way._

_It is them._

_He pushes the door open, and right after he averts his eyes from Tsukishima’s golden ones, they fall on to the marks on the other’s forearms._

_He sees red, red and black, and tastes blood that isn’t there on his tongue_.

.

.

“Tsukki” the dark haired man says and Kei looks away “I didn’t notice you come in” there’s a glint in his eyes, one that scares him somewhat even if the words are spoken in a cheery tone.

“I didn’t notice you were here either, Kuroo-san” he says, voice as level as he can make it.

“’s strange, don’t you think?” Kuroo says, out of the corner of his eyes, Kei can see that the too, has his head turned away stubbornly.

“I…” he hesitates “Guess so”.

“So?” the man says dubiously “What happened?” he turns towards Sugawara “Why do you need me Suga-san?”

The silver-haired man lets an uneasy smile show “I was hoping you’d lend me some of your energy, Kuroo-san”

“Uh?”

“You know about that incorporeal that has been going around?” Suga continues, Kuroo nods mutely “It has a couple of troublesome attacks, they’re difficult to heal and I don’t have reserves that large- “

“I thought you were avoiding it” it’s very obviously directed at him, fighting the temptation to look up at the man, Kei walks over to the nearest sofa, hand still holding his wounds and gaze still fixated on the mustard-yellow walls, heart racing just slightly –Kuroo’s voice dropped in that last phrase, he can’t help it if memories of his fantasies are surfacing, if only to be drowned as soon as they are identified-.

Kei takes a deep breath “Believe me, it wasn’t intentional” He drawls.

“So it’s really a tough one huh?”

Kei simply lifts his arm, if he didn’t know better, he’d say that the look in Kuroo’s eyes becomes just a smidge more predatory.

“What do you think?”

“Will you help out, Kuroo-san?” Sugawara interjects, shooting Kei a small glare as well.

The dark haired man shrugs “Sure, what do I do?”

“You just need to channel your energy” Sugawara says “I’ll take care of the actual mending, but we need to flush out the demon energy in the wounds first”

“So I’m replacing it?”

“Pushing it out is more like it”

All though the exchange, he’s sitting there, watching them speak and wondering if this will actually go down well.

As Suga is having Kuroo shift into position and Kei extend his arm, he mutters “I can’t believe something like that is still transitioning”

“What do you mean?” Kuroo says with a puzzled expression.

“No, I guess you don’t- “

“It means that the demon isn’t fully in this side yet, the energy of an incorporeal tends to lag a bit” Kei explains, eyes meeting the older man’s “We’re going to have to do something about it soon too” he says, turning to Suga, fighting down a blush “It’s already huge, by the time it passes it’s going to become a real nuisance”

The older man sighs “I know, Daichi and I have been planning something since the Iron wall incident, you’ll come with us, Tsukishima-kun?”

Kei scoffs “That thing doesn’t belong in this world, I wonder what it is that it wants enough to try and pass when it’s so big”

“It certainly must be looking for something” Sugawara says “Now Kuroo-san, you need to push gently” he says, signaling Kei’s lacerated arm “when you feel the demon energy you have to pull it upwards, it’s gonna take a lot out of you but you can’t let go”

The taller man nods “Is it gonna hurt?” he asks, uncharacteristically.

Sugawara shrugs “Probably, we’ll have to trust Tsukishima will stay still”

Kei snorts, as if.

“Ready?” Suga says.

“Mhmm” Kei hums, his arm is already starting to go numb from being extended for so long.

“Yeah” Kuroo says.

“Ok, start pushing”

At first, it’s warmth, thein it’s heat, and the heat becomes pain that laces like a woven cloth around his whole forearm, not just the lacerations, he can feel the flow of the dark haired man’s energy inside his flesh, he can feel it swirling and reaching down deep so that when he pushes up the demon energy won’t have much of a place to go.

And surprisingly, Kuroo is a natural, the process is slow, like waddling through two feet high snow, and as painful as that, by the time ten minutes have passed, Kei can feel a thin trickle of blood slide down his chin from where he’s bitten his lip hard enough to pierce the skin in an attempt to muffle any pained sounds.

They have not even started pulling up.

“Careful now” Sugawara says, when they do start pulling up and Kei has taken to detailing every single detail of Kuroo’s’ now sweaty, concentrated face.

All to not scream.

Like wisps of whatever substance, it is that makes up the incorporeal, the energy starts dissipating and rising off his skin, and the pain recedes, each time a little bit more, until he only feels the warmth of Kuroo’s energy enveloping his arm, though there’s something odd about its composition, it’s strangely comforting.

Kei’s eyes are met with dark golden irises.

They’re both panting, exertion and pain, and quick as lightning a tanned thumb comes up to brush the blood at his chin off.

Kei shudders, and for a second, is about to surge forward and pin the man to the wall.

Of course, next he knows, Suga is pulling up his other arm and it starts over again, Kuroo using massive amounts of energy, concentrating, breathing deep and slow so he doesn’t lose his concentration and the same pain, the same pain and the smell of sulfur, and amidst it, the comforting, musky scent of the nape of Kuroo’s neck, the warmth of his oddly configured energy. Kei bites at his already split lip again and in between the pain remembers how attracted he is to this man and the burst of sensation when there’s only the pleasurable warmth of his energy leaves him reeling.

“There, all done, Tsukki” the man says, low volume, exhausted “Wear some armor next time”

“Next time, I’m walking away with its hide” Kei musters up the energy to smirk “Thanks Kuroo”

Their eyes are locked again. It’s dangerous, Kei muses, this thing where suddenly they can’t look away from each other, he’s sure Kuroo feels it too, Kei’s perceptive, and it’s very obvious, the sensation of being mesmerized is very mutual in a way.

“Ne, Suga-san” and then, Kuroo breaks the silence, just as Suga is taking over healing the actual welts in Kei’s arms “’s it too late to change my mind and say that I want to become a hunter?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little bit of smut in this one, yay, it was actually the hardest part to write, but I ended up liking it the most.  
> Please do tell me if the chapter feels rushed, it’s been a pretty awful week, so I’m afraid it might not be up to standard.  
> Next chapter’s Kuroo’s, and there’s some Bokuto, I really love writing it  
> Anyway, I hope y’all liked it  
> Love, Kyrye.


	5. Line improviser

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It’s been like a month? Wow, sorry for that, I had these two awful weeks and then exams so I couldn’t write much, but finally, this came through.

Some sort of instinct has him half-carrying the green eyed man that just showed up to his door to the couch, halfway through it the light coming from the hallway shuts off, leaving them both in near darkness.

When the demon comes back from closing the door, he flicks the living room light on and just looks.

_What the hell?_

The person is panting heavily, leaning over the armrest of his couch, there’s a small red stain in his hospital gown around the stomach area, though it doesn’t seem like the bleeding has continued.

Kuroo takes a seat in front of him, not before grabbing one of the bottles of alcohol that he passed on earlier.

After all, there’s only one reason the Red Mist’s would be here, in a young human’s body, a young human who has apparently been in the hospital for a while.

“Is it that bad?” he asks when the other finally seems to have recovered some composure. “Did they go after anyone else?”

The Red Mist’s coughs a couple of times and answers “You haven’t been frequenting anyone but me, so no” he says.

He sighs “I’m sorry” the black demon pours himself a glass of whisky and offers the other some.

The other eyes it with distrust “I think I’d do better with some water” as Kuroo brings him some from the kitchen, he remarks “You have gotten very used to this world it seems”

“Not by choice” he responds “I’m trapped in this body for a while, it’s convenience, mostly”

“Mostly” the other hums “You smell of humans though; have you been trying to replenish yourself?”

Kuroo shoots him an angry look “You know I wouldn’t”

“No, I guess not” The other chuckles “Even if it is the most sensible course, you always were prideful”

“Oh, whatever” Kuroo answers “How did they even _get_ to you anyways?”

Something dark crosses over the other’s face and the demon shivers “They are far stronger than they used to be” he says quietly “You really made a mess this time around, they’ve taken over the oracles and the map makers, I guess that’s how they know you are in Tokyo, even if you’ve gotten a pretty nifty disguise for yourself, it won’t be long now. If you insist on still doing things the hard way, I’d suggest leaving Japan”

Grinding his teeth, he stretches over the low kitchen table for is lighter and soon there is another cigarette burning at his lips. What his friend says is, of course, the most sensible course to take, as it always would be when the Red Mist’s is the one that suggests it, however, he doesn’t quite know if it is the fact that his human body has greater impulses of senseless bravado than self-preservation or simply the fact that he’s already tired of running, he’s not going to do that. “You know I’m not going to” he says, darkly “I’ve been on the run for fifty years, for crossing some self-entitled bastards, it ends now”

“This world has gotten to you indeed” the other says “It still remains that you currently haven’t got enough power, and for a while, I’ll be as good as a human too, unless you hunt other demons for me, since I can’t replenish myself like you can”

Kuroo groans “It’s not like I’m going to” True, he could leech off of some poor sap, but that would hardly help his reserves of energy, it would be like pouring a drop in a bottle, -not to speak of the fact that said poor sap would surely die if they were normal- to really get a good push in strength, he would need to feed off of someone more powerful –and the fact that he knew more than a couple of people that could work now makes the appeal of the idea even greater, harder to resist- and in that case, he wouldn’t even need to kill the human, but whatever else, he isn’t going to, sometimes, he thinks that he had inherited his mother’s feral nature more predominantly as a warning against using his other progenitor’s powers, so far, whenever he does, things get derailed and at worst, he ends up nigh-useless, trapped in a human’s body. “Or as if there is anyone I can take without being purified” he says, taking a drag of the cigarette.

“If you were able to overpower the one holding that body, I’m pretty sure you could find some mid-level hunter” the other rationalizes “In fact, I’d like to know how you did, you were nowhere near that level when you left, and I can only imagine everything went downhill from there”

“You’re one to talk” he answers “If you were as weak as you say, even that one’s” he gestures towards the other’s body “strength seems like it would have been a challenge”

“Precisely” the other lifts a pale arm for the black demon to see “There was no one here when I arrived, just latent power” along the back of the other’s pale forearm, runs an ugly scar, clearly one form a wound that healed long ago, as it’s only the jagged edges that give it away, not the coloring, from what he can see where he is, there’s a similar artifact on the skin of the other forearm “It was convenient, although getting here was a chore, his name was Akaashi Keiji, he did it a year ago” the demon says emotionlessly “And the body had been there, kept alive ever since, it took almost all I had to repair the contents of the head and fix some of the atrophy in the muscles. I was lucky he knew divination or I would never have found you”

“It was the same here” the black demon says “Found him hanging from the ceiling beam, still warm” he shrugs “He wasn’t this powerful though, I’ve been training”

“Training?” an elegant black eyebrow is raised at him.

“I figured if I was going to hide, I may well do it among the hunters” at the panicked look on his friend’s face, he laughs” It’s fine, his energy covers mine well enough, I don’t think they suspect anything, except for Sugawara” he mutters “And I also keep myself informed”

The other thinks it over for a second “I guess… it’s not a bad approach” he says “It might even work for me too, right now the powers of this body are too weak, it’ll start showing that I’m not human soon. Not to speak of the fact that I’m not quite comfortable with it at times”

“For a shapeshifter it makes sense” Kuroo says “Human forms are too stable”

“Yes” the other asserts “In my species there’s no physical differentiation from one another, we can turn to anything after all, so aside from our minds and quantities of power, we haven’t got traits that differentiate us like humans do”

“I know” the other says, and he throws his head back, eyes fixated on the ceiling, he can feel his eyelids growing heavy. “Let’s strategize tomorrow night” he says “I have to be somewhere to be at ten.” He agreed to meet Bokuto, to get new assignations and the like, as well as decide what to do about a few pests, they’d probably be at it through lunch and at least into early afternoon.

“Your lessons?” the other asks “Take me along then, the sooner, the better”

“No…” he hesitates “Not exactly, I could take you there on Saturday though”

The other sighs “I guess”

“C’mon, I bet you’ll want a shower, I’ll leave some clothes out for you and blankets for the spare bedroom”

He can tell that the vague explanation doesn’t make the other happy but they seem to drop the issue as the other demon pads quietly towards the bathroom.

.

.

Early in the morning, he turns on the television, it’s a deep seated habit of the body’s, to wake up and reach for the remote before he’s truly awake, and he can’t seem to kick it no matter how much human technology bothers him at times.

The news are on and his eyes widen at the picture on the screen.

The anchorwoman is talking from what seems like a hospital room.

_“…Yesterday at eight-thirty pm. It was considered a kidnapping until various witnesses assured the authorities that they saw the man get up on his own and rip the medical equipment out of his body. It truly is a medical miracle, however, the mystery remains as to the whereabouts of the young man. The Akaashi group is offering a hefty sum to any who can provide any information as to the whereabouts of their heir. In other news…”_

“Holy shit”

.

.

Later on, he’s running late to his meeting with Bokuto, already having explained to the other the situation of both Kuroo Tetsuro and the body that the Red Mist’s is currently imagining.

“Listen, I have somewhere to go.” He says, hurriedly grabbing his jacket from the back of one of the kitchen chairs “Stay here, I’ll be back at around seven or eight”

The other demon throws their head back; despite the obvious fragility of the body the Red Mist’s currently inhabits, it’s clear that staying at the apartment doesn’t sit quite well with them.

Well, it’s not like they haven’t been cooped up inside since the night they appeared by the door.

“Take me along” they say, voice quiet but steady “I want to see the world of the humans”

Kuroo grunts “Far as I know, you have seen this dimension in quite the detail before, and the authorities are looking for that body”

The other scoffs “So I have” they say “Before you even came to exist, from Akaashi’s memories, I can glean that it has become vastly different from what it used to be. Besides, the city is large, if you provide me with something to hide my features, there shouldn’t be a problem”

“Pfttt” he chuckles “Obviously it has” he says and frowns, considering the whole thing.

He intends to leave the conversation there, but as he putters around the kitchen in search for his keys, their eyes don’t leave his back for more than a second, shining with extemporal wisdom, masked by the youthful face.

Quickly, he slips into his room and grabs a hoodie, throwing it at the other, they’ll get awfully warm, but it’ll be their own fault. Once they are at Bokuto’s, there should be no problem, if there’s something their men know is how to keep their mouths shut and so long as Kuroo asks, Bokuto will give the order and no words will be uttered as to the presence of the Red Mist’s.

Finally, he sighs “If you can mask your energy, I guess you can” pausing to think for a moment, he says “Pick some pants of mine to wear, we’ll get some new clothes soon, but I’m already running late.”

And it’s not like he’s lying, he knows that Bokuto will get antsy.

One wouldn’t ever guess that a demon who has lived for longer than a millennium could be as willful and stubborn as a human teenager –and he’d rather take the Red Mist’s with him than leave them knowing that the other will likely be out of the door to explore soon as they can’t feel him nearby-.

The black demon is starting to wonder if maybe the bodies that by chance they ended up inhabiting aren’t having too big an effect on their personalities.

The other is ready soon enough “Remember, you call me Tetsuro and I call you Keiji”

Again, an eyebrow is raised in his direction “Don’t you think it’s going to look even more suspicious if we’re so familiar with each other? I mean if they _have_ watched the news.”

He sighs, again, what his friend is saying is the truth, but…

“The closer Bokuto sees you are to me, the less questions he will ask, he’ll assume I’ll tell him at some point”

“If you say so”

He shakes his head, resigned and they are off.

.

.

“Hey, hey, hey, you’re late bro, we almost started the meeting without you” Bokuto all but pounces on him as soon as Kuroo and Akaashi walk in through the door of the room in the heart of the very traditionalistic compound, having been led there by a helpful servant with a very obvious knife hidden in her sleeve.

The black demon laughs, laying a hand on the other man’s shoulder “We got a bit held up; I brought a friend, do you mind?”

The question is asked hesitatingly, with just enough uncertainty that it makes the man chuckle. ” If you brought him here, then you trust him, Kuroo, and besides, he’s such a cutie” Bokuto steps to the side and peers at the second form in his doorway “What’s your name?”

The other looks up at Bokuto with a stern expression etched on his cherubic features, Kuroo can just hope he’ll convince Bokuto of his sincerity “I am called Keiji” he pauses for a second “And I would appreciate it if you didn’t call me a he”

Kuroo cocks his head to the side confused, before realizing that out of habit, he has referred to the other in a neutral manner since they appeared at his doorstep the night before, mainly because technically, the Red Mist’s species doesn’t have defined genders for each of their members, and the other always showed preference for forms that were ambiguous as to gender, creatures where one couldn’t just tell by sight like birds or snakes.

Of course, he is trapped in a human male’s body at this point.

The Red Mist’s has always been quite… serious about how they’re referred to as.

“Wha-? You’re a chick- “Bokuto sweeps over Akaashi Keiji’s body with his eyes “No, definitely not but- “

But then, the Red Mist’s speaks up “I am indeed, biologically male, but I do not… Identify with….” They seem to be trying very, very hard to remember the words, like they are on the tip of their tongue, dragged there by the memories of the previous owner of their body, the other demon knows the feeling and the frustration that comes with it well, he’s experienced it a couple of times himself, after all “that gender identity, unlike most Hu- people, so I would appreciate if you refer to me neutrally.”

It was a near miss, he realizes, the Red Mist’s almost made a distinction between himself and humans, and _that_ would’ve been harder to explain away.

Bokuto blinks twice and cranes his head to the side, resembling an owl more than he usually does. Soon enough, however, the confused scowl vanishes from his face and the man grins widely “Whatever you say buddy” he says, and lets an arm fall around their shoulders so suddenly that they stiffen and a small spike of demonic energy escapes them.

Kuroo stiffens, too used to watching every ounce of his own power after being around hunters for extended periods of time, but nothing happens, Bokuto’s grin doesn’t shift and the servants in the room do not move.

Ever oblivious Bokuto.

Now that he thinks of it, around him is where they might be the safest, among enough humans that they can blend in so long as they don’t let their energy run too rampant, beside a man and an organization that will protect them from the hunters if their cover is ever blown, but with no one too sensitive around.

And if anyone ever does ask about Akaashi Keiji’s body; he already has a pretty good story that Bokuto will probably buy.

So, perhaps, he’ll bring the Red Mist’s around more often, if Bokuto gets attached to him similarly to the way he is attached to Kuroo Tetsuro, that’ll be an advantage, a safety net in case things get too ugly with the hunters.

-there’s not much that he can do about if and when things get bad with the demons, or well, worse, because they already are pretty bad, but at least a hunt, he can handle-.

A cushion is quickly fetched for his companion, although they don’t really have anything to do with the meeting, still, Bokuto insists they stay, and moreover, that they sit beside him.

Even if they haven’t been in the human world in a long time, they understand that there are implications to it and decline politely.

The grey haired man seems crestfallen and the Red Mist’s looks the other way, sitting both quite close to Kuroo and digging their fingers in the fabric of the hoodie they borrowed from him this morning. He’s never known his friend to be shy, so he figures that it’s a habit inherited from the previous inhabitant of the body.

In a rather jovial manner, Bokuto starts the meeting “So, our suppliers have been doing well nearly everywhere, but the same two areas that we already discussed before” he says, and then flails his hands around his head before Kuroo can open his mouth to correct him “But the cops Kuroo paid off are supposed to let them off easy from now on”

Sitting beside Bokuto, Yukie pipes up “And there’s still that problem at the port- “

“Already taken care of, boss” Konoha answers from the other side of the table “We got them good”

“Did you make sure they won’t be coming back?” he interjects, Bokuto spent a while complaining before about the issue, and the warehouses at the port are both something that’s greatly coveted by gangs and the mafia alike, and something that is notoriously fickle as to the changes in its owners “It’s no use if they come back” he leans forward into his elbow.

Konoha blushes a little “Well, yes, mostly” he says “We can’t predict when they’ll try to come back though”

“We should just get rid of that nest they have close by” Yamamoto says from the other side, fist coming down hard on the table “That way they won’t be able to attack without alerting us first”

Kuroo sighs “We can’t just go into one of their neighborhoods and not expect a full on war to start”

Yukie smiles “That’s true, we’ll have to find a way around that” she says “You really have changed, huh, Tetsuro-kun?”

Everyone has been remarking so since he came to the organization, it’s not like he doesn’t understand why –Kuroo Tetsuro was a grieving pacifist, he’s a two-hundred-year-old demon who is already fed up with running- but it’s unsettling every time someone says it with that little smirk curling at the corners of their mouth.

He chuckles and his mouth curls to the side in a lopsided smirk “I guess so” he tells the woman, eyes never leaving hers “As for that little issue, couldn’t we get our cop friends to pay them a visit? Or maybe start some trouble with the triad in their behalf? It’s not like they haven’t wanted to kick those punks out of their territory since forever ago.”

“Oh, ho, ho?” he hears from his right, turning around to find a very smug looking Bokuto “The triad is a good plan” the man says “Man, I’m really gonna have to do a check on you to make sure you weren’t switched away by aliens”

A quiet chuckle is heard in the Red Mist’s direction, some heads on the table turn towards them, but most keep their eyes on the Black Demon and Bokuto, and the amused stare off that they are conducting with each other.

Kuroo rolls his eyes “I’m twenty-eight Bo, there’s a pretty slim chance of me being a changeling”

“I did say aliens, not fairies”

“You’ve been spending too much time with that cockatoo from Ginza”

Bokuto shrugs “What can I say? He’s fun to be around, besides, he relocated to Shinjuku. And it’s your fault anyway, it was _your_ job to deal with the fucker”

“And he got on my nerves, that one” he says, suddenly having to sort through memories that he’s found rather uninteresting before, the man that controls most of the bars in Ginza and most of the prostitutes in Tokyo is named Oikawa Tooru, and he can be alright, though he can also be a pain in the ass “Kenma always made me tea for when I ended meetings with him”

The tone that escapes him is fond, but the immediate constricting in the body’s throat and the slight itching at the corners of his eyes speaks of another story. Even with its owner long gone, the body’s response to Kenma is almost terrifying, it seizes him up like a giant’s hand or a couple of steel beams falling from above, and despite his relatively mild feelings regarding the subject –the demon’s, sometimes the distinction is a bit hard to make these days- leaves him in a daze.

Thinking about what happened is way too painful for the body, and it’s giving him a headache, so he shoves it aside.

The air in the room too has suddenly gone heavy, everyone is silent, some of the ones that have known Kuroo Tetsuro for a while are staring at him, most of them are looking away.

He reaches out an invisible wave of energy, everyone is invaded by varying degrees of either despair, surprise or discomfort.

It makes sense.

His eyes cross the Red Mist’s for a second, there’s a warning in theirs.

The demon leans forward and grabs his all-but-forgotten sake cup, draining it to try and hide the irrational trembling of his hands “Anyways, we ought to choose if we’re gonna frame them or simply make a deal with the triad so they’ll wipe the punks out, it _is_ their territory after all”

Almost as if a collective sigh has been released, they get back to work, and the meeting continues with discussing some more asinine details of another job they have, distantly, he hears the Red Mist’s chuckle every once in a while, once he even turns around to face the other “Is anything wrong, Keiji?” he asks, voice saccharine sweet, he knows that he’s probably overreacting, but the whole thing with the body’s unruly emotions and memories has left him strung up; he’s nor used to not having control over such things, and anyways, demons are far less emotional than humans.

They smile sheepishly “No” they say “Nothing at all”

.

.

Their friend has gone to coordinate some or other thing with his subordinates.

The Red Mist demon sighs and leans into the veranda that skirts around the estate’s interior garden.

The last time they were amongst humans, they reckon that this is the way human houses looked in Japan, mostly because they haven’t seen anything like it in what little they’ve been privy to of the rest of Tokyo.

They can’t be sure, of course, because last time, they were much further north, in a place that they have come to learn, is now called Europe and at the time it was mostly hills and scattered towns crowned by stone castles that weren’t half as high as some of Tokyo’s office towers.

That was also the las time they possessed a human and an unpleasant experience to boot, still ignorant as to how one opens a portal, they had been forced to wait almost a human lifetime out while lying in wait for someone willing and powerful enough to help them.

Such a person never came around, and they learned on their own, grew strong on their own.

They’ll have to now too, the body they inhabit is weak from being stranded in a bed for too long, and the looming threat is far larger than the hunters from the middle ages once were –even if they were ruthless enough to be efficient despite their terrifying lack of actual knowledge-.

A warm weight lands on their shoulder, and they look up to find the golden eyes of the man that they have been introduced to as Bokuto Koutarou.

He’s beaming, but the weight of his arm speaks of seriousness. Turning to look out at the garden, Bokuto speaks “You’re that boy from the news this morning, aren’t you?” He says in a voice that is not threatening, but it could be if it got just a notch deeper.

At the assertion, they stiffen up, the man hasn’t had time to go back and re-watch the news clips, but he didn’t let the recognition show when they arrived.

Another look at the man’s wide, razor sharp smile settles it.

This man is dangerous, and not only because they can’t read him.

As it is, lying would be very much useless “I am Akaashi Keiji” they say “Kuroo-san was kind enough to take me in”

Bokuto does a double take, almost as if he was expecting them to lie to him “Wait, so you really just up and ran away from the hospital?”

“Yes, that would be it” they say, wracking their brain for plausible explanation “I met Kuroo-san smoking at a park, he ended up letting me into his home, to sleep at least”

Bokuto looks at them with worry “He’s being very trusting” he pauses for a moment “Wait, are you two-?”

They look down, faking bashfulness while hurriedly interrupting the other man “No, no, he must have just pitied me, I was still only wearing a hospital gown, trying to use divination to find a place where it wouldn’t be too dangerous to spend the night”

At least the last part is true.

The older man blinks owlishly “You’re a pretty lucky kid” he says “Why did you run though? Your family is looking everywhere for you”

The mention of those words ignites _something_ in Akaashi Keiji’s body, a sort of black hole suddenly opening and presenting itself gaping on his chest.

“That is- They- “All of a sudden, he doesn’t have to pretend, the fear, the breathlessness, the hand that comes to hold the body’s scarred forearm like the old wounds are going to open again, they are all genuine. They take a deep breath in the face of the memory onslaught, trying to remind themselves that it’s not something that happened to them “If you don’t mind, Bokuto-san, that is personal, I don’t plan going back to them either”

Bokuto looks taken aback, almost worried at their sudden outburst when during all of the meeting they were mostly composed save for a couple giggles, he hesitates. “Uh- sorry, uhm, you also do the witchy things?”

“Umm excuse me?” they say, finally regaining control over the body’s unruly heart.

“You know” Bokuto says, suddenly waving his hands around “The psychic things Kuroo says he’s gotten better at”

“Yes” they pause for a moment “I can do divination, though I am a bit rusty”

“So you could tell me my future?”

“I could tell you some inklings” they say “Possibilities”

“Let’s do that” Bokuto says, suddenly looking more like an excited puppy than –at least from what they gathered during the meeting- a mafia lord.

“I’ll need somewhere quiet” they say, with a table.

Bokuto smiles “Right away” he says and starts leading them down the corridor, before he whips around, looking almost impatient “A last question though, why were you giggling during the meeting?”

This takes them aback; they didn’t think anyone had noticed but the other demon in the room. They decide to answer with the truth again, since so far, it has seemed the best policy “It’s just not the kind of talk I’m used to” they say “I found it amusing, interesting, you could even say”

Amusement, interest, they light up Bokuto’s eyes, and the Red Mist’s demon reckons they’ve made the right choice, even when the man provokes strange reactions in the body they temporarily inhabit.

.

.

Sugawara Koushi is a nice man, they think, he’s the best at divination at the trading point where Kuroo is learning the nuances of bounty hunters.

As they are being introduced to him and his fiancé a couple of days after meeting the black demon’s Mafioso friends, however, they notice a glint in his eyes, and it’s not long after that a blond man approaches them, eyes completely on Kuroo.

They have noticed the little nuances of their friend over the course of the past few days, he is merging more and more with both the body he inhabits and human customs, and upon seeing the way Kuroo looks at the young man who identifies himself as Tsukishima and seems to despise them on sight, they think they have figured out why.

After all, the air between the other two feels like it’s charged with electricity as soon as their eyes meet, and the young human’s jealousy could well be a dark mist enveloping the room.

When the other man leaves and they turn towards Sugawara, they find that the inquisitive smirk in the silver-haired man’s face is mirrored in their own.

.

.

_Hey, hey! I figured you didn’t have one of this since you’re a runaway after all! Have fun ‘Kaashi-kun and come up to visit with Kuroo sometime!_

_Oh, and you_ were _right about the crab legs and the spy at the bar, figures I owe you one, I’ll treat you to dinner if you ever do come by!_

_I put my number in already!_

_-Hoot_

Under the note is a box that depicts one of the human contraptions that they have seen their friend use the most.

The phone dings as it turns on, they already have a message.

.

.

He is, admittedly, very bored, _everyone_ is gone on errands –except for Suga and the Red Mist’s both of whom are in a little room practicing divination which to him looks like a lot of sitting around for little in the way of results- and it is free practice time, with only he, Hinata and the tall silver-haired boy that calls himself Lev.

It leaves him too much time to think, and the demon doesn’t like that, not by far.

He hasn’t seen Tsukishima since that one day when the blond seemed to be very mad at the world in general and he in particular.

Sometimes he wonders about the little shifts in expression in Tsukishima’s face, the whole spectrum of emotions that can’t be defined as just one pure thing, but a mix of other –Kuroo Tetsuro’s brain provides a spectral decomposition of sound, something he learned in an elective in college, adding overtones and undertones to a pure, perfect tone-, and no matter how much he spends trying, he can’t understand some of the nuances that humans possess.

It’s a little strange how the man manages to worm his way into Kuroo’s thoughts.

Of course, just as he is thinking this, he sees the familiar tall figure walking briskly though the patio, heading towards the room where Suga and Akaashi are.

Maybe he should… No.

“Oi, Shrimpy” he calls out, breaking his own awfully unstable energy ribbon, and startling Hinata into making his own go out of control “Want to spar?”

“Sure- “the boy says, but then he falls back a little “But Kageyama wants this thing perfected today”

“Well, we can- uh- spar with these?” he says, conjuring his own ribbon back “Like whips”

“Ohhhhh” Hinata beams “Let’s do it”

“Hey, let me in too” Lev whines from the side.

Hinata sticks out his tongue playfully “Next round kay?”

-Even the demon can understand how saying no to that face is not very easy-

They are not even five minutes into the spar before the Red Mist’s comes bounding up to them, slightly pale faced, but still wearing his usual bored expression.

“Suga-san needs you” he proclaims loudly, and this sees Lev getting up like an excited, overly grown puppy.

“You go Kuroo-san; I’ll spar with Hinata”

Well, that’s that.

They walk away from the energetic men, the Red Mist’s smirks slightly “Sometimes I forget you are still very young” they say “Don’t forget we are cousins”

“Yeah, yeah, _Keiji-kun_ ” The older demon smirks “Now, what am I needed for?”

You’ll see.

.

.

The conflicting tornado of emotions that invades him as they near the door leaves Kuroo thinking that he might just be far more like the humans than he’d like to admit, especially when it comes to one Tsukishima Kei.

And then the door swings open.

.

.

For all that they have drank and talked at length about inane things and important ones, the times he’s touched Tsukishima in ways which do not involve sparring have been few and far in-between even in the short time that he has known the other, and they have mostly been limited to accidental brushes and bumps.

This might be the first time outside of spars and that one time he almost ran into oncoming traffic that he’s had a hand firmly set on the other’s naked skin.

The reason it is happening, however, does not please him.

He can feel _their_ disgusting slimy miasma still shifting beneath Tsukishima’s flesh, hiding itself behind the blonde’s energy in very much the same way that Kuroo is keeping his cover.

A feral instinct overtakes him, and behind his own guise, his energy shifts the same way he remembers his mother’s doing when something threatened him way back when he was but a small inkling of a being, and it’s a miracle that none of it escapes, because it would be his end.

Suga smiles benevolently “Ready” he says.

Even without lifting his gaze, he knows that Tsukishima is rolling his eyes “Mhmm”

“Yeah”

“Ok, start pushing”

In very much the same way he felt himself and his energy seeping into the body that he currently inhabits, the demon pushes the psychic energy into Tsukishima’s forearm, skirting around the place where the miasma is concentrated, reaching deeper down, one millimeter at a time, taking care of both not allowing his demonic energy to escape in his rage and hurting Tsukishima’s tissues.

Tsukishima tenses at a point, and his skin becomes clammy, Kuroo can feel the man’s golden eyes fixated on his face as the man tries not to shake.

“Careful now” Sugawara warns, and the demon knows it’s his cue to start pulling the energy out.

The sweet scent of blood suddenly permeates the air, and as it has happened before around Tsukishima, he almost manages to lose control over himself.

Tsukishima is bleeding, he’s not sure from where, probably his lip, he thinks, but it’s not wise, for now at least.

Carefully, ever so carefully, he runs his energy through the lacerated tissue and pulls up until he’s sure that not a trace of the obnoxious energy remains.

When he looks up, Kei is pale and wide eyed, there’s a trickle of blood running down his chin.

In a moment’s impulse, he reaches out and brushes the blood away, wishing he weren’t in a hunter’s lair so he could lick it away from his thumb, from Tsukishima’s skin, even. After all, so long as he has a physical form, he’d need a physical connection to the person’s energy, blood would be preferable, though of course, he’s not planning to drain the young hunter by any means, but the very image that presents itself in his mind –the blonde underneath him writhing and incoherent, unable to even beg as Kuroo himself feels the blonde’s energy running through the prone body, at his mercy, belonging only to him-  makes holding back a million times more difficult.

He doesn’t stop noticing the smug looks that Sugawara and the Red Mist’s throw each other, as if he needs more entities wanting him to fulfil his fantasies of the other man.

Kei shuddering, pupils blowing wide in obvious desire doesn’t help.

Thankfully, thankfully, Sugawara chooses that moment to have him start on the blonde’s other arm, and this manages to be an appropriate distraction at least until he finishes.

“There, all done, Tsukki” he says, feeling drained “Wear some armor next time”

Tsukishima smirks adorably “Next time I’m walking away with its hide. Thank you Kuroo”

He seems in a better mood than the last time they met, more tranquil, even with the horrible lacerations.

And then de demon remembers his old friend’s words before.

Was Tsukishima jealous of the Red Mist’s?

No, no way.

Kuroo gazes up and their eyes meet, again, fuck, he wonders sometimes if Tsukishima somehow descends from a Charmer demon trapped in a human body once upon a time, the effect he has just doesn’t seem natural.

-maybe is just his own current body that causes it, but it’s certainly not normal-

A burst of healing energy distracts him, and he looks down at Suga healing what’s left of Tsukishima’s injuries.

Earlier, the silver-haired man mentioned that the people from the trading post are thinking of going after _them_ if he- No, it’s too risky.

Still, it might be helpful to at least have _someone_ around who can bind the thing, since he himself doesn’t have that kind of control, and even if he doesn’t join they are going to go after the incorporeal, Tsukishima especially, Kuroo can see the fire burning behind his eyes, it has become personal.

Sawamura, Tsukishima and whomever else comes with can debilitate the thing, and when he knows he can defeat it, he can break away from the human body once and for all, and seeing as he is already at around three-quarters of his normal strength, it shouldn’t be particularly hard to open a portal right after and go back to his origin dimension.

Clean and easy, and he won’t have to complicate himself with humans anymore, everything ever shows that it’s a bad idea.

“Ne, Suga-san” he says, trying to sound nonchalant “’s it too late to change my mind and say that I want to become a hunter?”

He can hear Tsukishima’s sharp intake of breath even as he intently turns his head toward Sugawara, whose eyes widen slightly.

The Red Mist’s coughs awkwardly.

“Of course, not full time” he says, rolling his eyes at the man “My work hours are flexible though, so…” as his voice drifts off, Sugawara seems to think the proposal over for a while.

“Well, there’s no denying you have the potential” the man says “And there’s more than a couple of hunters that are only hunters on the side, like Kyoko-san or Ennoshita-kun” he lowers his fingers from Tsukishima’s healed arm –only faint pink lines remain, they aren’t even raised from the skin. “And it’s not like we can stop you but- “

Sugawara cuts off.

Beside them, Tsukishima groans.

“He’s trying to find a polite way to say that it’s a big commitment and that it’s dangerous” He pulls the sleeves of his jumper down “Enough that it’s not rare for people to end up a splatter in the sidewalk. Demons aren’t usually very forgiving.” Kei’s mouth curls to the side in disgust.

 _Don’t I know that?_ Kuroo thinks.

“And you’ll have to pass the board exam which are a bunch of stuck up old people who haven’t been out on the field in ages.”

Well, that’s new.

Sugawara chuckles. “There _is_ a standardized license, you know? We’d have many more reckless children running around and getting hurt if there weren’t”

“Uh, may I intervene?” The Red Mist’s leans forward slightly from the chair where they have been sitting.

Sugawara smiles “Of course, Keiji-kun”

They immediately shift to face Kuroo “Don’t you think you’re taking on more than you should?” they say, glancing at him with a lot more meaning that can actually be inferred behind his eyes. “Things are about to get a bit more intense at work too”

They are talking about his resolution of getting rid of Kuroo Tetsuro’s own enemies as well.

He frowns “No” it comes out a bit too rough, and he can tell Tsukishima is watching him with interest “And you probably don’t know much about that at all, _Keiji-kun_ don’t worry, I can handle it”

“You’d be surprised about how _much_ I know “they say, annoyed, and for a moment, he’s almost sure that their demonic energy is going to spike, and though it luckily doesn’t, Kuroo has to remember then that one thing that really does piss his old friend off is when people belittle him –as it would to any other demon that happens to be as powerful _and_ old as the Red Mist’s is normally- “Bokuto-san is a chatty man”

Sugawara doesn’t react to the name, but Tsukishima does, it’s only the slightest stiffening, something most people wouldn’t have caught, maybe he does only because he’s spent some serious time observing the blond.

The name means something to Tsukishima, and although, of course, there must be a good deal of people whose last names are Bokuto, well, the demon is attuned to human society enough to know that he hasn’t quite bothered to cover up some clues, such as the flexible hours comment or the fact that he’s well versed in martial arts and never having mentioned exactly _what_ he works as.

It could always be a wrong assumption, but something tells him it isn’t.

He raises an eyebrow at Akaashi “Oh, is he?”

“Yes, do as you wish though” they say, pursing their lips and pulling out the phone they got from Bokuto a couple of days ago –it would amuse him that Bokuto is crushing on them so obviously if they weren’t acting odd as well, he feels somewhat protective of the Owl, despite, of course, knowing that they don’t have any Ill intentions towards him, maybe it has to do with the fact that they are a millennia and a half old demon- something that, despite being older, or maybe because of that, they seem to have gotten used to far more easily than he has. “He’s expecting us in a couple of hours, I’d advise hurrying up unless you want to go to a meeting in sweaty clothes. I’ll be waiting outside” They finally say, and slink out of the room

Kuroo turns to look at Sugawara “He’s just apprehensive, what do I have to do?”

The man puts a finger to his lips and starts listing things “Well, it’s not very hard, anyone can sit through the exam so long as you have a certification that you’ve done some field training with someone, but you would have to learn the theory, rituals, basic demon knowledge, those kinds of things which can take a while.”

At least he has the demon knowledge thing down.

“So, do I just look up this stuff?” he says “Couldn’t I go out into the field with one of you?”

Sugawara smiles again, almost cheekily this time and Kuroo has a feeling that he’s just fallen in the trap “Well, some is on the internet, of course” he says “But there’s a lot of phonies there, I don’t think Daichi would mind letting you use our library if you’re coming into the business. As for someone to apprentice with, Daichi usually doesn’t, Tanaka and Noya have apprentices already, I guess you could ask Asahi-san?” an image of the mild-mannered bartender comes to mind, something tells Kuroo that he’d probably become a bit frustrated “Or…” the man smirks and glances at an aggravated looking Tsukishima “Tsukishima-kun has never taken on someone before”

It would be both a blessing and a curse, the demon knows, all depending on how much he can get his human body and his incubus side to behave.

They wait for Tsukishima to say something, he just turns his head to the side, frowning stubbornly.

Hesitantly, he answers “If he’ll have me…”

“What do you say, Tsukishima?” Sugawara asks with a sweet voice “I think you two could be a pretty good team, and Kuroo-san has showed he’s good with transference, perhaps not the type you use predominantly, but it might be good”

Tsukishima turns back looking at Suga with annoyance and at Kuroo with something a little like distrust and inquisitiveness

He licks his lips and narrows his eyes, as if crossing out each and every one of the possibilities.

“I wouldn’t mind” he says, finally, sighing “So long as you do your research first”

Something roars in his chest and he smiles “I will”

Sugawara is smiling, widely smiling.

“Well, Keiji is right, my boss is expecting us and I need a shower” he chuckles “I’ll text you to organize this thing okay?”

Tsukishima stands at the same time as he does “Actually, I have to get going too” he says “Thank you Suga”

“Goodbye Sugawara” he says.

Once outside, there’s no trace of the Red Mist’s in the patio, in fact, even Hinata and Lev seem to have called it a night.

And night it almost is, with a muted sunset washing over the vibrant colors of the plants that Sugawara takes care of.

Tsukishima is walking ahead of him in long strides until he stops completely and Kuroo manages to catch up to him. “Why are you doing this?” he says, in a rather neutral tone.

He decides to play dumb “I need to go out too Tsukki”

Even if he’s not looking at the blond’s face, he can tell that the other is rolling his eyes “You don’t seem like you need extra cash” he continues “In fact the name that your friend mentioned is attached to a mafia lord if I’m not wrong.”

Jackpot.

Kuroo shrugs, staring into the distance, it’s not like he can explain anything to Tsukishima without giving himself up and ending up on the room “I’m under the impression that there are thirteen million people in Tokyo” he says “There must be quite a few with Bokuto as their surname”

His legs take him forward, passing Tsukishima and his wide eyes and his alluring energy, until a hand drags him back by the shoulder.

“You’re a shady character, though, that must make it more possible”

“Hey, I’m not the one who is apparently aware of the names of the mafia lords in the area” he protests “You’re very imaginative, you know Tsukki, it’s kind of cute”

“Don’t try to sidetrack me”

Kuroo’s hand comes to grip Tsukishima’s wrist and push it aside “Then don’t put words in my mouth” He says “I have no idea what you’re talking about”

Tsukishima scoffs “Whatever”

 They walk outside in silence, when the blonde disappears out of sight, the Red Mist’s speaks up “Don’t tell me I didn’t warn you later” they say quietly.

The black demon brings his arm up to rub at his neck “Well, judging by how last time you told me that went…” he admits “But it’s not like you aren’t dipping your toes into unnecessary things” he pointedly looks at the phone that the other still holds in their hands.

“I’m not the one who decided to take on the burdens of a dead man”

They walk to the apartment silently.

.

.

The week passes slowly and at a snail pace, he has been put in charge of the supply lines of two districts, and has to order three hits and take care of two himself by Thursday –although he uses demonic energy for those and perhaps that relieves some of the tension- and while he doesn’t quite cherish human lives, it is a cutthroat job at the very least.

His nights are spent buried in borrowed books, trying to learn as much as he can, he wonders if, somehow, he could defeat _them_ with only Kuroo Tetsuro’s psychic powers –and the aid of other hunters of course, it’s not as if he thinks _only_ one hunter’s power would be enough- and there seems to be a chance, he always has a plan B of course.

.

.

**_Tsukki ;)_ **

_Friday or Saturday would be fine._

_There are missions one doesn’t take a novice too._

Smug little shit.

Well, despite Konoha’s best efforts Kuroo Tetsuro’s old problems don’t appear to be about to allow him some information to deal with them, so for now, the demon will go deal with his own.

**_Me_ **

_Friday then._

_I wouldn’t be so smug until you beat me in a spar._

**_Tsukki ;)_ **

**_‘location’_ **

_At seven pm._

_To an old man? Even_ I _am not that cruel._

_._

_._

Ten minutes after four, he’s standing outside the café signaled in the location map, wearing a heavy jacket that makes him sweat, but is the only thing that managed to cover the gun that Bokuto insists he carries around –well, it’s not like he _shouldn’t_ if he were a human that is, and so long as it stops the Owl from trying to send men to protect him-.

The place is dingy and solitary, it has a feeling of danger around it and he doesn’t like it.

Since it’s not a commercial district, there’s no one in the street on a Friday at seven pm.

He sees him come, all slender limbs and gold hair, carrying a backpack and arm guards over his forearms –he took note, at least-.

It happens really fast, the motorcycle that comes zooming through the street and turns around in a manner that is surely illegal, by then Tsukishima is a couple of meters from him and he dashes forward, grabs the man by the sleeve and all but drags him into a room while pulling out the gun and hoping that Kuroo Tetsuro’s muscle memory will aid him.

Shots resound into the night, underneath the amber streetlamp lights.

“All three are on the floor, he half on top of Tsukishima, sporting some nasty road burn on his arm and a couple of scratches on his cheeks while the blond looks unscathed.

The man in the motorcycle is dead.

Tsukishima pulls out from his dazes state and frowns “Not involved with the mafia huh?”

Kuro smiles sheepishly and reaches for his phone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Phew, it’s a bit of a long chapter ain’t it? Next one they’ll interact more I promise.  
> About the Akaashi thing, he was supposed to be nonbinary from the start , if anyone has any suggestions or wants to correct me if I’m portraying him wrong, please do tell.  
> Criticism and comments are always appreciated.  
> Love Kyrye

**Author's Note:**

> So, yeah. There was very little Tsukki in this one, but next chapter will be all about him, I’d really like to know what everyone thinks about the demon -And yes, the demon is the Kuroo we all know and love, he's just settling into that body-.  
> ‘Till next time.


End file.
